Hours passed and the food that Scott has made for dinner couldn't have been more poorly done. That alone, plus the fact that he was fighting to put out the burning turkey with a fire extinguisher was a sign to the kids that they weren't going to eat good tonight.
"That is exactly why you want a high-quality fire extinguisher right in the kitchen," Scott told his kids, once he managed to put the flames out.
"Those flames were really big, Dad." Charlie told him.
"Yeah, turkey's funny that way," Scott said. Suddenly the turkey caught up in flames again.
"Dad!" Selene yelled, pointing at the turkey. Scott turned around and blew the extinguisher onto the turkey to put it out again. "It's done!"
Selene sighs. "Dad, I love you, but we need an alternative for dinner".
*Later*
Scott took Charlie and Selene in his car and drove around town to find them someplace to eat. "You kids like Osso Buco?" he asked, stopping in front of a restaurant that had no one inside. "They're closed." He said disappointed before he drove off to find someplace else.
"You know, Neil's a real good cook," Charlie said from the backseat.
"Yeah, and you should see him walk on water," Scott said, in an annoyed tone.
"You don't like him very much, do you, Dad?" Charlie asked.
"Charlie, he was joking. Right, dad?" Selene tries to cover for her dad.
"She's right. I'm sorry. I was just kiddin' around. I like him a lo... Yeah, sure, I like him. You know, there... There's just something about him that makes me wanna...."
"Lash out irrationally?" Charlie asked suddenly.
"Where did you hear that?" Selene asked.
"From Neil. I learn a lot from him. He listens to me." Charlie answered.
"Yeah. Then he charges ya for it". Scott and Selene say at the same time.
Charlie sighs at their response and Selene slumps back in her seat, feeling a bit bad. She doesn't mean to upset Charlie. They've been close for years, but since the divorce, it's been getting harder and harder to stay that way.
Eventually, Scott drove into a Denny's parking lot, with a grin. "All right. Denny's. It's always open." He said, turning off the car and unbuckling his seatbelt to get out.
"Seriously?" Selene asked Scott before sighing and giving in. "You know what? It's better than nothing. Come on, Charlie".
"I don't wanna eat here," Charlie said.
"What are you talkin' about? Everybody likes Denny's! It's an American institution." Scott clarifies.
The trio enters the restaurant as a waitress walks over to them. "Are you with Hatsutashi?" she asked.
"No!" Scott answered quickly.
"Dad burnt the turkey," Charlie told her.
"Oh, yeah. This way. Come on." The waitress said, in an unsurprising tone.
They were following her over toward the back of the restaurant until Selene heard a voice call out to her.
"Hey, Silver the Snowflake!"
She stopped and turned to her side to see her best friend, Willa, walk up to her. The two girls hugged before pulling away, to which Selene noticed that Willa was dressed up in a pretty white and blue dress but her face had messed up makeup.
"I didn't know you would be here tonight", Willa said.
"Yeah well, my dad burned dinner so we came here", Selene explained. "Uh, why are you here? And what's with the screwy makeup?"
Willa's face fell from happy to upset at the question. "Oh yeah... I... was... crying".
"What? Why?"
"Um... remember when Lily asked me out on a date?... Well... she stood me up".
"Are you serious?!" Selene said in an angered tone.
"Yeah... I've been sitting here for an hour, and my parents are working until tomorrow morning. Can I stay with you for the night?" Willa asked.
"Of course you can", Selene answered before hugging her again. She brought her to the table Scott and Charlie were already at. It was where there were only fathers with their kids around eating.
"Hi Willa", Charlie greeted his older sister's friend.
"Hey Charlie. Hi, Mr. Calvin" Willa said as she sat down at their table.
"Hi Willa. What are you doing here?" Scott asked.
Selene explained Willa's situation to her dad and he allowed her to stay at their house for the night. To be honest, this wasn't really surprising to any of the family members. Selene has known Willa long enough to know that she has had a problem with her love life.
Almost every guy or girl Willa has fallen for never felt the same way. And even if they did, there was always something that "stood in the way of their relationship". Because of this, Selene promised that she would be there for Willa. And she knows Willa would do the same for her.
"Here we go." The waitress said, handing them their menus. "Coffee?" She asked.
"No, thank you..... Judy." Scott said with a chuckle, reading her name tag. "What do you say we start out with cold glasses... of delicious seasonal favorite eggnog?" He asked, holding up the little ad stand on the table.
"I don't like eggnog," Charlie said.
"They're out of eggnog anyway". Willa told them. "They told me when I ordered it earlier".
"Okay. Coffee. Decaf." Scott ordered instead.
"I'll have chocolate milk, please," Charlie told her.
"They're out of that too, bud," Willa told him.
"Plain milk's fine," Charlie said, disappointed.
"They got to have lemonade at least. Right?" Selene asked her friend.
"Out." She told her.
"Water," Selene ordered, looking away upset.
"Okay." Judy headed towards the kitchen.
"At least we know they got hot apple pie," Scott whispers to the kids.
"We did," Judy said as she left.
"Mm-hmm!" Scott looks between the three kids, seeing none of them happy. "This is nice."
*Back at the house*
Scott decided to put Charlie to bed and read him a bedtime story. Meanwhile, the two girls were hanging out in Selene's room. They were mainly talking about how disastrous the day has been for both of them before turning the conversation on a sweet note.
"...and to think that all of this happened on Christmas. Can you believe that?" Willa asks Selene.
"Honestly, yes". She responded. "But hey, next time we see Lily, I promise to give her a beat down".
Willa laughed a bit. "And next time your dad burns down the kitchen, just come over to my place for dinner".
"Deal". Selene shook hands with her friend. "...Hey, want to hear something dumb? Neil is trying to get Charlie to stop believing in Santa. Can you believe that?"
"Eh. I mean, do you believe in him?"
Selene hesitated a bit. She never really had a talk with her parents on whether or not Santa was truly real. But over the years, the magic she used to believe in during Christmas just started withering away. Now, she's not so sure anymore.
"I don't know. Maybe?"
"Look, honestly I don't see anything wrong with you or Charlie believing in Santa. After all, even if he isn't real, it's just harmless fun. And we got to keep your spirits lifted somehow. Unlike me, whose spirits died once my heart got broken at least--"
"1,000 times, and counting!" Selene says jokingly.
Willa threw a pillow at her, pretending to be a bit offended. "You know that's NOT true, Silver. I'm not that kind of girl. Besides you wouldn't know what it's like to fall in love because you've never had a boyfriend yet".
Selene sighed in annoyance. "Ugh. First off, I don't plan on having a boyfriend. And second, why does everyone keep calling me Silver? Especially around this time of year".
Willa rolls her eyes. "You forgot? It's because you--"
She stops midway in her sentence when a noise was heard. And it sounded like it was coming from the roof. "What was that?" Willa asked.
Out of curiosity and slight fear, they both decided to go check it out. Once they got into the hallway, the two girls saw Charlie coming out of his room.
"You guys heard it too?" He asked.
"Yeah. Let's go get dad", Selene told him. They all ran to Scott's room and tried to wake him up.
END CHAPTER
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A/N: A bit of an odd way to end this chapter. But honestly, I needed to get something done before I die from schoolwork... ugh! Why can't balancing life be easy?!
But fear not! For I am still doing to story! So be on the lookout for the next chapter.
Anyway, comment and tell me what you think of the chapter.