It was a subdued celebration this year for more reason than one. It was bad enough with the deportation hearing just days away. Kat couldn't get that out of her head. But it was also the first year that Kat's grandmother wouldn't be there with them. The year before, Baba had been so ill that the family brought a makeshift Sviat Vechir dinner right into her hospice room and had a final family celebration together. At the time, Kat couldn't have imagined a more macabre evening, but this year it was shaping up to be worse.
Not only was Baba gone, but Kat's father wouldn't be there, either. He had been given time off at American Thanksgiving and also between Christmas and New Year's, but Ukrainian Christmas was just another work day to his boss, so Walt flew back to Portland on New Year's Day. Orysia swallowed back her sorrow as she kissed him one last time at the airport. "Get the girls to invite a friend each," Walt had suggested, giving his wife a fierce hug. "The celebration won't seem so desolate then."
Genya opted not to ask anyone. Orysia had noticed that Genya had not brought a single friend home with her since the issue with Danylo had arisen. More often than not, Genya would be out. She had even taken to staying at a friend's house overnight several times a week.
Kat asked Lisa, who was thrilled with the invitation. "Are you going to ask Ian too?" she had inquired.
"Do you think he'd want to come?" asked Kat. She liked Ian and considered him a friend, but she knew that he was Lisa's boyfriend and she didn't want to mess with that.
"I don't know," shrugged Lisa. "Would you like me invite him for you?"
"No," said Kat. "I'll call."
With Danylo's help, Kat and Genya pushed the kitchen table into the living room, moved back all the living room furniture against the wall, and then put in the two extra table leaves, making the kitchen table long enough for even a dozen people. Kat took a freshly ironed table cloth and spread it over the long table top, then set out seven embroidered place mats. Once the newly polished silverware and special china were set out, Kat smiled with satisfaction. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
Lisa and Ian arrived together around five o'clock. As Kat opened the door to let them in, she noticed the silhouette of a figure in the darkness.
"Is there someone out there with you?" asked Kat, peering out into the darkness, trying to get a good look at the person.
"It's a protester," said Ian, as he stepped through the doorway.
"A what?" she asked alarmed.
"She's got a protest sign she's waving around," said Lisa. "It says ‘Nazi lives here.' What's that all about?"
Kat's face paled. Of all the times to choose to picket, why did she choose to come on Christmas Eve? "It's hard to explain," said Kat, closing the door quickly.
Kat hadn't seen Ian since before Christmas break, and the first thing she noticed was that he seemed somehow larger than life. He must have grown an inch, or perhaps filled out a bit. His presence seemed to envelop the room. His hair was freshly dyed a stark black, making him look formidable rather than whimsical. Kat took his coat from him — the satin lined long black coat that he planned on wearing for the concert. As she hung it up in the closet, she couldn't help but catch the distinctive scent of Ian and she filled her lungs with it. She hung Lisa's black leather trench coat up beside it in the closet, feeling a bit jealous that the two coats had arrived together.
Orysia suppressed a gasp when she walked into the living room to greet her guests. Ian had always attracted attention with his flamboyant appearance, but today he looked vaguely threatening to her. Orysia was ashamed of her thoughts. She knew that Ian was a gentle soul. And he had even dressed up for the occasion. He was wearing a white ruffled shirt buttoned high on the collar, and a heavy iron crucifix dangling from a long chain around his neck.
Lisa had also dressed carefully for the evening. No hobnailed boots or ripped net stockings: she wore a simple black jersey dress with a high neck and long sleeves with a hem line that brushed the floor. She was almost nun-like in her simplicity.
They stood awkwardly side by side as Orysia approached them. " Veselykh Sviat" she said cheerfully. "That literally means ‘happy holy' — but it's how you say happy Ukrainian Christmas Eve."
"Merry Christmas to you too," said Ian and Lisa together.
Just then, the door of Genya's bedroom creaked open and Danylo stepped out. He too had dressed up. He wore the dark grey suit that he had bought for his wife's funeral over a Ukrainian embroidered shirt. In his lapel was a reindeer pin that Kat had bought him the Christmas before.
A smile broke out on his face when he saw that two of Kat's new friends had decided to join them in their celebration. He gave each a bear hug then led them to the sofa that was pushed up against the wall to make room for the table.
Then he walked into the kitchen and gestured to the three cooking females to come out to the living room. "Let us gather around the table for the kutya."
Danylo carried a crystal bowl filled with kutya — a mixture of poppy seeds, honey, wheat and walnuts — and set it at the head of the table. Orysia placed a stack of small dessert bowls beside it. When they all found a spot around the table, there was still one empty. Danylo placed one spoonful of the mixture in each of the bowls, and Orysia set one in front of each person, and also one in front of the empty spot.
Lisa and Ian looked towards Kat to see what they should do. Everyone remained standing, and then Danylo took a small bit of the kutya on his spoon and held it in front of him. Everyone else did the same. "May God protect us this coming year, and may it be full of health and happiness for all," said Danylo. Then he ate his spoonful of kutya.Everyone else did the same.
"Now the fast is broken and we can eat," said Danylo to Ian and Lisa.
Orysia and her daughters went back into the kitchen to continue preparing the twelve course meatless feast, and Danylo got a container of grape juice from the fridge and took it into the living room with him. Filling three wine glasses from the table, he handed one each to Lisa and Ian, and kept one for himself. "A toast to friendship," he said.
They clinked their glasses and sipped.
"The candle hasn't been lit," said Danylo more to himself than to his guests. He opened the front curtains slightly and set down a single candle holder. "This light is to help travelers find their way home," he explained.
As he lit it with a match, he looked out the window and noticed a figure in the darkness. He squinted, trying to make sense of what he saw, but then he saw the outline of the placard and understood what it was.
"You will see that there are only six of us here, yet there are seven place settings on the table," Danylo said to Lisa and Ian who were sitting quietly side by side. "That place setting is for our departed loved ones. But it is also for the wandering stranger."
With that, Danylo set down his wine glass of grape juice and opened up the front door. He walked down the front steps of the house and out towards the sidewalk to where the lone protester stood. It was an elderly woman. She stared back at him with surprise and disdain.