Arranged •{ONC 2020}•

《 Chapter Eleven 》

"This is so exciting!" Quietly, Ashlynn added, "I hope it's a girl."

Lucy laughed. "I hope so, too. There are too many boys in my house, and they all drive me crazy."

"You married Jamison, Lu. You did it to yourself."

"Yeah, I know," she chuckled and shook her head. "What about you and Wesley? Have you decided on kids?"

"Ah," Ashlynn paused. She should've listened to Aunt Leah; she had no idea what they agreed to say for this. "Um, well, as it is now, we want to wait. There's a lot going on with the company right now, and I think it's a bit early to have kids now. I mean, we only got married a couple months ago. Besides," she sighed dramatically, "I already have to deal with a kid—Wesley."

"That's true, husbands are basically kids," Lucy snickered. "Anyways, these pies aren't going to make themselves! Let's get to work!"

《♡》

"You know, I could eat this stuff every day for the rest of my life."

"Then it's a good thing you married her, Wes."

Ashlynn rolled her eyes to mask the pride she felt. It'd taken her a solid hour and she'd been up to her elbows in flour, but she managed to whip up her best pecan pie to date. When she'd carried it into the dining room for dessert, Wesley's jaw almost hit the floor. He wiped away the trail of drool making its way down his chin and beckoned her to bring it closer to him. Unable to refuse, she set it down right in front of him and tried not to laugh at how excited he looked. He was like a kid in a candy shop—with an emphasis on the kid part.

Three slices later, he finally leaned back in his chair, perfectly content. That pie made the past two months of awkward married-life totally worth it. He could get used to this.

Wesley cleared his throat and sat up in his seat, nipping the thought in the bud. This was only temporary, he reminded himself. But he should definitely try to convince Ashlynn to make this pie before they parted ways four months from now. The smile threatened to fall from his lips.

"Let's clear the table and head to the living room! We've got games to play!" Aunt Leah clapped her hands and the kids cheered in excitement.

Fifteen minutes passed, and the family was once again seated in the living room, although this time they were joined by María and Arnold. A pile of presents sat in the middle of the circled up group, and the kids were eying it ecstatically. This was a Thanksgiving tradition in the Whittaker household, one that even Ashlynn's parents had participated in.

Ashlynn caught Wesley looking around at the family and the pile in confusion. Tugging his sleeve, she leaned closer and explained the game to him. "We take turns rolling two dice. If you get doubles or at least a nine, you get to pick a present. Once all the presents are gone, we open them and show everyone what we got. Then we pass around the dice again and you get a chance to steal the presents you want until the timer goes off. Most of it's random junk, but sometimes you find a real gem."

"Oh," he mumbled back, still looking confused.

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out." She felt Jamison's heavy gaze on her and backed away, a smile on her face. "Although, the less you get, the more there is for me!"

"Hey, we're in this together! What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours!" Wesley said with a panicky edge to his voice. "You know, mi casa es su casa. Right, María?"

María chuckled. "That's not exactly what it means, but yes. But don't underestimate her. She's very competitive."

"Well, that makes two of us."

"Alright, start rolling the dice!" Aunt Leah commanded, her signature mischievous grin spreading across her face. "There's presents to be had!

And with that, all hell broke loose.

Wesley had seen some pretty intense and crazy things—especially at the occasional frat party he had attended in college—but this family took it to a whole new level. He barely had time to look at what he rolled before the dice were snatched out of his hand. Competitiveness must run in the family. All of the Whittakers, from Aunt Leah to David, were rolling and grabbing at lightning speed. Even Arnold, who was surprisingly spry for a man of seventy, was getting into it. Lucy seemed like the only other sane person in the room, but even she got a wild look in her eye when diving for a present.

Dice flew. Names were called in anger and disappointment. Paper fluttered everywhere. Wesley just tried his best to survive.

When the dust settled and the timer dinged for the last time, he breathed a sigh of relief. Almost instantly, the group calmed and began picking through their spoils of war. Wesley looked down at his pitiful pile. He had a pack of neon yellow shoelaces, a decorative deer covered in silver glitter, a box of chocolates that expired in 2012, a package of tissues, and a Batman toothbrush.

Mason, who by some miracle had survived the carnage, waddled over and picked up the toothbrush. He walked back over to his mother, crooning, "Batman! Batman!"

Now Wesley didn't even have a new toothbrush.

Sensing his disappointment, Ashlynn dig around in her huge pile and pulled out a glitter pen with an orange pom-pom on the cap. "Here," she held it out to him, grinning, "you can have this instead."

He took it instinctively, as he was still in partial shock after what he had just witnessed. "Thanks?"

She inspected his pile. "Hmm...not a lot there. Oh, but you got the chocolate!"

Jamison overheard her and laughed. "Well, I guess that's a good sign! He'll last until at least next Thanksgiving!"

"I don't get it." Wesley looked to Ashlynn for help. "What does the chocolate mean?"

Averting her eyes and busying her hands by screwing and unscrewing a candle lid, she responded. "Well, we've been passing around the chocolate for the past, I don't know, five or six years. Whoever gets it on Thanksgiving is supposed to bring it back the following year."

"Oh." The seemingly innocent—and grossly outdated—box of chocolates looked a lot more intimidating. "I guess you're stuck with me for a year."

Ashlynn's eyes darted up to meet his. He was making that dumb, unreadable expression again. Smiling, she nodded in affirmation. "Yup. Maybe you'll get more presents next year. And good ones."

"Don't make fun of my new shoelaces! I'm going to wear them to the office every day!" Wesley said defensively and picked up the offensively neon yellow laces. The kids giggled at that, and Ashlynn just shook her head. No wonder those wild children liked him so much; they were exactly alike.

They continued playing various games until the clock in the hall chimed ten times, and Aunt Leah gave out the order to clean up and go to bed. Henry and David whined about never being allowed to stay up late, but after a stern look from Lucy, they gathered their prizes and fled the room. Wesley helped Ashlynn with her massive haul, and by the time they finished, they were dead tired. Not even taking the time to measure out a gap between them, they collapsed on the bed next to one another and fell into a deep sleep.