Ace of Hearts - All We Are Series [NaNoWriMo 2014] [#JustWriteIt]

Chapter Thirteen [Edited]

“Anaya!” My mom cheered as I walked in the door with some pumpkin pie. “Let me help you with that. How was your trip?”

“Not too bad. There was some traffic from the snow, but it wasn’t too much,” I responded, giving her the pie dish and shrugging off my jacket.

“Honey, Anaya’s here!” My mom called out to Gabe as we walked to the kitchen.

“Wow, it smells good in here,” I commented, loving the smell of my mother’s kitchen. There was a scent of cinnamon, pumpkin, cookie dough, and general deliciousness in the air. It was definitely something that I missed from being a kid during Thanksgiving.

The air was full of delicious scents. My mom was working on something in the kitchen, baking some sweet dessert that she wouldn’t let me touch. I was twelve and in that awkward teenager phase. I sat at the kitchen table working on homework while my mom buzzed about the room.

The doorbell rang and my mom quickly brushed flour off her hands. She rushed to the front door and opened it.

‘Gabe! I’m so glad you could make it!’

‘I brought some green bean casserole. It was my grandmother’s recipe, and my mom taught me that I should always bring something to a lady’s house,’ a deep male voice came out. I had heard it a few times before.

Gabe McAllister walked into the kitchen with my mother. The two were smiling at each other, and I grinned up at Gabe.

‘Hey Anaya! How are you?’ He asked me as he came into the kitchen and set the casserole with my mom’s turkey.

‘Good, you?’ I asked politely, though I was a bit wary of this new person.

The whole evening I watched my mother and Gabe interact. My mother showed a whole new side. There was a lightness, a happiness, in her eyes that I hadn’t seen before. My grumbly twelve year old self didn’t like that the spotlight wasn’t on me, but the more I observed Gabe, the more I had to grudgingly admit that he was a great guy. He didn’t have an ounce of unkindness temperament in his blood. And sure he had wrinkles on his face, but they looked like laugh lines.  

 

“Can you help me finish making the mashed potatoes?” My mom asked, snapping me out of my reverie. “The turkey is in the oven and the stuffing is already made,” my mom told me, handing a bowl of cut potatoes and a fork to me.

“Do you have butter and cream cheese?”

“In the fridge,” she told me as she whipped around the kitchen, preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Even though there were only three of us, my mom always insisted on making a feast.

‘How can you have Thanksgiving without the food?’ She always told me when I was littler.

Occasionally we had Thanksgiving with my aunts and uncles, but it wasn’t all that often as they lived in Texas, Arizona, and Washington; and it was a bit hard to get together with them regularly.

Gabe came down the stairs. I set down my mashing and gave him a hug.

“Gabe, how are you? How’s work?” I asked him.

“I’m doing well. Work is going smoothly. I don’t have to do much now as I’m part time, and you know your mother and I have been traveling lately.”

“Honey, tell her about our trip to Singapore!” My mom interjected.

“You went to Singapore? When was this?” I questioned.