Christmas at the Phoenix Family Home

 Sequel to this caption 
https://fantasytgcaption.blogspot.com/2024/05/role-exchanger-feniks-family.html?m=0

The Phoenix home—once bustling with football debates, cabinet-slamming, and teenage quarrels—now stood like a relic wrapped in sequins and memories. A single string of twinkling LED lights stretched along the porch railing, uneven in places.

Inside, the air was warm, with cinnamon and a quiet tension. It was the first Christmas Eve since the Role Exchanger had rewritten their lives. Cassandra—now the de facto matriarch of the family—stood at the kitchen counter, arranging cookies on a plate. She quickly learned that Jazzlyn, her once shy mother, now favored treats, though she still devoured them between sips of champagne at late-night parties. Dustin, now Dasti, sat at the dining room table, carefully coloring a Christmas card with glitter markers.

"Do you think Santa still comes for people who used to be boys?" Dasti asked suddenly.

Cassandra replied, "Of course he does. Santa isn't picky. He's all about behavior, not bodies."
"Mom says bodies are very important now," Dasti whispered, glancing toward the living room, where Jazzlyn was lounging on the couch in silk pajamas, scrolling through dating apps with one hand and flipping channels with the other. "She says a lot of things," Cassandra murmured. "But she still kissed you on the forehead this morning. And she packed your favorite apple juice for school, sometimes. That's what counts."
Dasti smiled faintly, then returned to drawing a snowman on her paper.

A notification sounded on phone. Cassandra glanced at her phone.  A message from her ex-father, Augustus.

"Cover photo in Reykjavik. I got back at the end of January. I sent gifts. Don't wait." No emojis. No "Merry Christmas." Not even a signature. Just a man who now considered skin and light his only legacy. She exhaled and dropped her phone facedown on the counter. At least Arian had sent something real—a handmade wooden box with message:

"For my favorite sister. Sometimes I dream about all of you. Not about the old us—just… about us. About who we are now. Anyway, happy christmas."

The doorbell rang. Dasti gasped. "Santa Claus?!" "Not exactly," Jazzlyn laughed, rising from the couch. "But almost… a delivery." Cassandra opened the door.  A  courier holding a long, flat package. "To the Phoenix residence... From Austin Phoenix." Cassandra signaled and carried the package inside. Dasti jumped, eyes wide"Open! Open!". Inside were silk dresses and Barbie dolls. No one spoke.
Then Dasti reached out, grabbing the dolls. "I've always wanted them." Cassandra swallowed hard as she browsed through the heavily sexualized Christmas-themed dresses. Jazzlyn wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "I miss him," she said softly, then grabbed a silk dress and began trying it on. She then filmed a video for her profile in it, dancing with her figure.

Later, as Cassandra was putting Dasti to bed, the girl whispered, "Do you think Daddy will ever come back?" Cassandra smoothed her hair. "I don't know. But if not, I'll be here. That's my job now." Dasti nodded, already drifting off.

Downstairs, Jazzlyn poured two glasses of wine.
"For when they come back, if ever" Jazzlyn said, looking on the fireplace. Cassandra smiled faintly. She didn't believe in miracles.