Noah (5th Street series)

Chapter 7

Thanksgiving morning Veronica woke to a familiar aroma, one she hadn't smelled in the house in years. She wasn't completely sure, but as she walked through the hallway toward the kitchen, the smell was unmistakable: honey ham. It smelled delicious.

She turned the corner to see Noah in the kitchen wearing an apron and peeling potatoes. The dining table was set for two, centerpiece and all, and there were pies on the center island. "What do you think you're doing?"

Noah glanced up at her with a grin. "I'm making Thanksgiving dinner for us."

"No, you're not. You're going to Gio's house. You said you were really looking forward to it."

He raised an eyebrow with the grin turning into an all-out smile. "But what I decided I've been looking forward to even more—my entire life—was preparing a Thanksgiving meal."

When she didn't return the smile, his smile turned into a pout. "Foster care system all my life, remember?"

How dare he use that to guilt her into not being mad at him. She should've known better when he'd given in so easily the other day. When his smug grin returned, she couldn't help but smile this time. She walked toward him, trying to appear still angry, but secretly she was a little excited. Though it really wasn't a big deal that she'd be spending Thanksgiving alone, she wasn't exactly looking forward to it. "I can't believe you. When did you do all this?"

He seemed relieved that she was more curious than upset. "Well, I've never actually prepared a meal like this, so I sort of cheated. The ham was already prepared and spiraled. All I had to do was stick it in the oven, and I figured a turkey would be too much for just me and you, so I got a stuffed turkey breast that, again, all I had to do was stick in there." He gestured to the oven. "I'm not much of a baker, so I bought pies already made, but I did wanna prepare something and was hoping you'd help me. We could sort of, you know, do this together. So I'm making the mashed potatoes, and I bought some string beans, so we can make a string bean casserole." He pointed at a bag on the counter by the refrigerator. "And in keeping with the Mexican tradition, I bought some tamales from the lady selling them in the parking lot."

Veronica laughed, bringing her hand to her mouth. She didn't want him to notice how giddy she was beginning to feel. This was completely unexpected, and she hadn't had a Thanksgiving feast like this in ages.

"So whatta ya say? You gonna help me with this or what?"

"Sure, I'll help." She walked around the island to where he stood.

"You wanna do the potatoes or the green beans?"

Remembering the easy recipe her mother had taught her, she chose the green beans and got to work. She watched as Noah pressed a few buttons on his phone then set it on the table next to what looked like a speaker and soon Christmas carols began playing.

"Well, that's cool." She had to admit.

Noah laughed. "That's like one of the easiest things you can do on this phone. The more I play with it, the more awesome I think it is."

"Still too extravagant for me. I'll stick to my dumb phone thank you very much."

Noah promised to sell her on it yet and said he'd find an app just for her that would make her go out and just have to get an iPhone for herself. The conversation made her feel like an old unyielding geezer afraid of change like the ones she used to work with, who were angry anytime there was an upgrade to their computer system. She decided to change the subject by singing along to the music. To her surprise, Noah sang with her. Veronica laughed at how seriously intense he got at certain parts of the songs, then blushed and stopped singing when he told her he loved her voice.