The crackling fire is the only sound as the four people uncomfortably stare at one another from overstuffed, living-room seating.
Jessica knows that her fiancé, Nicholas, is trying his best, smiling as warmly at her parents as anyone from the North Pole ever could.
“Darling, may I see you in the kitchen?” her mother interjects.
****************
“Whatever are you thinking?” her mother somehow manages to squeal into a whisper. “He’s overweight, no wonder since he's unemployed, plus, who wants to live with all those stinky reindeer? Have you even met his parents?”
“He works, Mother.”
“And gives everything away -- to strangers!”