Aaron

20- Thanksgiving

Thea's P.O.V.

Aaron walked me up to the door, guiding me inside Derek and Sofia's home.

"Noah, Grandpa Aaron just got here-" Sofia stopped dead in her tracks when I walked in alongside him.

All eyes were on Aaron and I and I wanted to do nothing more than kick Aaron's ass right now.

"Thea, what a surprise." Sofia finally said as she came forward, giving her father a kiss on the cheek.

"Sweetheart, I told you I was bringing somebody."

I started laughing, "Bringing? You kidnapped me."

"DAD!" Sofia yelled as she smacked his arm.

"Kidnapped? You willingly got into my car." Aaron argued with a smile on his face.

I scoffed.

Sofia continued to stare at her Dad, probably trying to figure out what he was thinking or what was going on between Aaron and I.

"If I'm not welcome here, I'll leave."

Sofia started shaking her head, "No, no, no. You're more than welcome to stay. I'm so sorry for him, he doesn't realize he can't go around being bossy all the time."

"I agree."

I then noticed Derek's parents were here too and I became even more uncomfortable. A room filled with old gang leaders, the Mafia and a cop tends to make for very awkward dinner conversations.

I shook away my nerves, I was here and going to try and make the best of this situation. "Sofia, can I help you with anything?"

She laced her arm through mine. "Come with me to the kitchen. I'm just finishing up the potatoes and then you could help my mother-in-law and I put the food on the table."

"Sounds good." I glared at Aaron one last time before walking off with Sofia.

Sofia leaned in, "Did he really kidnap you?"

"Well he didn't gag and snatch me, if that's what you mean. We were talking about one of my cases and all of a sudden we were here."

She shook her head. "I'm so sorry. I think he means well."

"It's fine, you don't need to apologize for him. By the way, it smells really good in here."

It's been a long time since I've had a good homemade Thanksgiving meal.

Sofia smiled, "Thank you. I have this lady to share the credit with too. This is Derek's Mom, Pam."

Pam smiled and extended her hand, which I accepted. "It's very nice to meet you, Thea."

"It's nice to meet you too. I feel bad that I didn't bring anything to contribute to this meal."

"It's okay. Trust us, we have plenty. Don't you worry."

I talked with them a bit before I helped Pam put the food on the table.

"Come on boys. It's ready." Sofia said before motioning for me to sit.

I sat down, moments later the table began to fill up.

"Hello." I heard someone say as they pulled on my sleeve slightly.

I looked to my left to see a little boy sitting next to me. "Hi. You must be Noah? My name's Thea."

"Thea?"

I nodded.

"You're very pretty."

Everyone around the table laughed. "Awww. Thank you, Noah. I think you're very handsome and quite the charmer."

Aaron was standing behind the chair Noah was sitting at, smiling. "Alright Romeo, go sit by your mom and dad."

Noah got up and ran over to his parents. It was hard to believe that this adorable kid was going to be a Mafia boss someday.

Silas sat on the other side of me and leaned over, "Looks like you have someone else in love with you at this table."

I elbowed Silas hard in the side... accidentally of course. He groaned in pain, holding his side as everyone looked his way, wondering what happened to him.

I chuckled as I patted his shoulder. "You okay there, Chief?"

"Uncle Si, are you alright?" Sofia asked, concerned.

"Just great." He gave her a thumbs up before looking over at me and whispered. "Was that necessary?"

"Maybe don't make stupid comments."

He glared at me, smiling slightly before facing forward. The rest of the meal went fine. I was still uncomfortable but it was getting easier to be here as time went on.

The guys cleaned up dinner and we were all in the living room now, talking while I sat on the floor with Noah, playing games.

"Uno. Green." Noah said as he laid down his card.

I gave him a look as he smiled back at me. I had this gut feeling this kid was playing me since we have both bluffed in previous games. Against my better judgment, I laid down a wild, "Blue."

"Yes!" Noah squealed and laid down a blue eight."

I got up on my knees and started tickling his belly, making him laugh. "Well you little stinker."

"Grandpa Aaron taught me how to play."

I looked up at Aaron, who was smiling down at us. I looked back at Noah, "Well you play very well and sneaky."

"Do you want to play again?" Noah asked.

"Maybe later, I have to use the bathroom. Would you like to show me where it is?"

"Sure." He grabbed my hand and led me down a hall. "Right here."

"Thank you, Noah."

He smiled and ran back to where everyone else was.

After using the bathroom, I washed my hands and started walking down the hallway again, glancing at all of the pictures on the wall.

I stopped at Sofia and Derek's wedding picture. If I didn't know who these people actually were, they would look like any other normal family. It was weird to see how in love and nice these people could be after all the stories I have heard at the office.

"Seems like yesterday." Sofia's soft voice said as she came over and handed me a piece of my pumpkin pie.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"How old was Noah here?" I pointed at the wedding photo.

"Six months."

"He's a really cute kid, Sofia."

"Thank you. He sure does like you. Do you and your boyfriend ever plan on getting married or having kids?"

"My what now?" Surely she wasn't talking about Aaron.

She started laughing, "I thought the guys said you were seeing that new DA?"

"Oh, no. I'm not, we're just friends. Kids and a wedding are definitely not in my future."

"Oh, surely you would want that someday though?"

"Mmmm, no. I love kids, don't get me wrong-"

"What are you ladies talking about?" I was cut off by Aaron, coming around the corner.

"Nothing. I just gave our guest the first piece of pie. Here... you can have this one. You two go sit."

I followed Aaron back out to the living room. We sat down next to each other, enjoying our pumpkin pie with everyone.

*****
Aaron pulled up to my apartment building. "The boys are all at their places again, watching over you."

"They don't need to be here."

"Yes they do."

I rolled my eyes, "Thank you for tonight... I didn't have a terrible time."

Aaron smiled and nodded, "Good. Good night, beautiful."

"Good night, Aaron."