*Will, RJ and their whole family celebrate Thanksgiving together! Thank you so much BrianBadgerMay for helping me write this! Enjoy! Love • Bree 🤎🦃
Today is Thanksgiving! This year, Will and RJ are hosting Thanksgiving at their home instead of flying to Florida like they usually do.
Will and RJ had a few reasons for hosting Thanksgiving at their home instead of traveling across the country.
One reason is cold and flu season has been horrendous. There are lots of cold and flu cases all over the United States, as well as covid and RSV. Luca was born a few weeks premature so he can get sick easily. Will and RJ also didn't want for the twins to get sick by traveling since they can't get any of the shots just yet.
The second reason is that Will and RJ weren't ready to travel with eight young children, especially two six month olds who haven't traveled anywhere.
Will and RJ's Thanksgiving guest list is going to be smaller than usual, due to not everyone being able to travel.
On Will's side of the family, Will's mom and stepdad Karen and Hank, Will's older brother Logan, Will's aunt Misty and Will's stepsiblings Erin and Jacob are coming from Florida.
On RJ's side of the family, RJ's parents Martha and Ricardo, RJ's little brother Ryan and sister-in-law Brandi!
Will and RJ are also inviting Benji's maternal grandmother Delores, maternal grandfather Jorge, great grandma Luciana, Benji's paternal grandmother Whitney and paternal aunt Meghan!
Right now, Will and RJ are getting everything cooked and ready for everyone's arrival. The turkey is still in the oven while Will is making the sides. RJ is upstairs finally getting dressed and ready.
"Daddy! Teddy won't share!" Harlow yells as she walks over to Will, stomping her feet a little.
"What's he not sharing, baby?" Will says as he rubs Harlow's head before fixing her little ponytail.
"The doll house! He's using it as a race track which is not how you use it!" Harlow says with some sass.
"Theodore!" Will yells for Theodore.
"Yes, Daddy!" Theodore says as he runs over holding a car in his hand.
"You need to share the doll house, okay? You have been playing with it for a while. How about you use the HotWheel track Papi made so Harlow can have a turn." Will says to Theodore.
Theodore frowned but thought about it for a moment.
"Sorry, Harlow." Theodore apologizes, and compromises with Harlow.
"I wanna play cars, but I can play dolls too." Theodore says to Harlow and Will.
"Okay, we can do dat." Harlow agrees and the two of them go play with the dollhouse.
"Wanna pway HotWheels." Luca says as Theodore gives him a car.
"Yes, buddy, you can play with the HotWheels track Papi set up." Will tells Luca.
RJ returns downstairs, fully dressed and l holding Arya and Oliver in each arm.
"And these cuties are ready, too!" RJ says with a cheeky grin.
"¡Que hermosa! Y muy guapo." (How beautiful! And very handsome.) Will says about the twins happily, taking Oliver into his arms.
"Dad, Papi, how do I look?" Benji asks as he walks in.
*Benji, Coralei, Averie, Theodore, Harlow, Luca, Arya and Oliver's Thanksgiving outfits*
"Very nice! I like how you did your hair, bubba."
RJ says.
"It is lovely. Very smart looking." Will says as Oliver plays with and chews on a teething ring.
Luca goes to play with the race car track, while Theodore and Harlow play together with the dollhouse, in front of the couch near Will,
Benji and RJ.
"I wanna be the mommy doll!" Harlow says cheerfully.
"I do to! Hm.." Theodore pauses and finds a solution. "I know! We can BOTH be mommy dolls! They have two mommies!" Theodore says with a smile.
"Yeah! And I be da baby one, you be da big brover." Harlow agrees.
Theodore plays and pretends that one of the mommy dolls are driving home from work; a way to play cars and dollhouse.
"Good problem-solving, Teddy! You found a way to share." Will praises.
"Vroooooom!" Luca yells happily as he plays with his cars.
"Aaaa!" Arya says loudly causing RJ to giggle.
"What princess? Do you want a teether too?" RJ says as he pulls a teether out of the freezer for Arya to chew on.
Arya happily gnaws on the toy causing RJ to giggle at the faces she is making.
"These teeth better come through soon! Two cranky babies is so hard." Will says as Oliver continues to holds his teether.
"I just looked in their mouths and they both have a tooth at the bottom almost through!" RJ says with a big grin.
Coralei and Averie both giggle loudly as they dance around the house together.
"When's everybody coming, Dad and Papa?" Benji asks as he pours himself a drink.
"Soon! Grandma Whitney and Aunt Meghan are going to be first to arrive I think! Aunt Meghan asked me what time dinner was." Will says to Benji.
"Grandma Whitney always wants to be first so she can take her thousand pictures." Benji says causing Will and RJ to laugh.
"No, Bisabuela, Abuela and Abuelo will be. You know how they like to be early." RJ says as Benji giggles.
"Bisabuela and Abuela are never late!" Benji says with a smile.
"Pipo, Mima, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Brandi, Nana, Pop, Aunt Erin, Uncle Jacob, Uncle Logan and Aunt Misty are coming in about an hour." RJ says to Benji.
"All right, so we have more time to set up." Benji comments.
"Yes. You can help if you want, but we've gotten most things ready." Will agrees.
"You sound more and more mature every day, Benji! Soon you'll be growing a beard." RJ says playfully.
Benji laughs and shakes his head.
"No, silly! I'm only eleven!" Benji says with sass.
"Oh, you're right. I must be seeing things." RJ jokes.
Arya swings her arms outward from RJ's hold, indicating she wants to be set down.
"Okay, baby, here you go." RJ tells his youngest daughter as he sets her on the couch next to her twin.
"Papi!" Arya says in gratitude.
"You said my name! Wow! And it's your first word!" RJ gasps.
"Good job, Arya!" Will cheers and Benji smiles.
"She's a bit young for saying her first real word, isn't she?" The preteen questions.
"Yeah, babies don't usually say full words until
seven to twelve months." Will answers.
"Aaaa!" Oliver screeches happily.
"We hear you too, Ollie! Are you going to say a word too?" Will asks Oliver in a babyfied voice.
"Oof! Oof!" Oliver says, trying to bark like a dog.
"Are you trying to bark just like Dobby, Astrid and Sammy?" Benji asks his littlest brother and Oliver smiles.
"Papi! Me firsty." Luca says, hugging RJ's leg.
"You're thirsty?" RJ asks Luca, making sure he understood what the two what old said.
"Uh huh!" Luca says with a grin.
"What would you like?" RJ asks Luca, curious on what the toddler would like.
"Juicy!" Luca says with excitement, flapping his arms.
"Apple juice? Sure! What do you say?" RJ says wanting Luca to use his manners.
"Pwease." Luca says to RJ.
"Yes, I can." RJ says as he and Luca walk into the kitchen to get some apple juice.
Will sits on the floor, close to the couch so he can be near the babies if they try to wander away.
"Daddy!" Averie says, running over to Will.
"Yes?" Will asks Averie, smiling at his six year old.
"After Thanksgiving, can we get a Christmas tree?" Averie asks Will with puppy eyes.
"We will! But not tomorrow! Christmas trees aren't ready just yet! But once they are, we will all go out and pick one out, okay?" Will says as Averie gets excited.
"Yay!" Averie says with excitement.
"Since we are getting a real Christmas tree, we can't get it too soon, or else the tree will get too dry." Will says to Averie.
"Yeah! We don't want a fire! I remember learning that in school!" Averie says as she dances around.
"You are right, dry dead trees can cause a fire." Will says as he sees Averie wearing her favorite black boots.
"You love your boots, don't you?" Will asks Averie with a big smile.
"Yes! They are my favorite shoes!" Averie says proudly.
"Just like Coralei's favorites are her rainbow sparkly tennis shoes." Will says.
"Uh-huh!" Averie agrees and giggles.
Coralei enters the room and sits down to talk with Luca and RJ.
Just then, the doorbell rings, and Arya yelps in surprise, A little scared.
"It's okay, baby! It's just some of our guests. Let's see who it is." Will says and lifts the six month old into his arms as he goes to answer the door.
"I'll stay with Ollie!" Averie says happily.
"Thank you, Aves." Will replies, opening up the door, to find Delores, Jorge and Luciana.
"Hello! Come on in, happy Thanksgiving." Will greets the guests.
"Thank you! Wow, how cute, Arya! You're getting so big!" Delores coos over the baby in Will's arms.
"She is! Oliver is in the living room with Averie! He's bigger than she is!" Will says with a chuckle as Arya babbles at Delores and Jorge.
Jorge does silly faces at Arya and Arya giggles loudly at him.
"¡Hola!" RJ says to Luciana as he helps her to the living room to sit down.
"¡Hola! Como Estas! (Hello! How are you?)" RJ asks Luciana.
¡Estoy bien! ¡Estoy bien!" (I'm well! I'm well!) Luciana says with a big smile at RJ.
"¡Hola, bisabuela!" Averie says as she runs over to Luciana and hug her.
"¡Hola, Averie!" Luciana says, kissing Averie's cheek.
"Aaaa!" Oliver yells loudly.
"Look, Ollie! It's Bisabuela!" RJ says picking up Oliver and showing him to Luciana.
Coralei, Harlow and Theodore all run over to greet Delores, Jorge and Luciana with hugs and kisses.
"¡Hola, abuela, abuelo y bisabuela." (Hello, grandma, grandpa and great grandma) Benji says to his maternal side of the family and hugs them.
Jorge, Luciana and Delores all happily greet Benji and give him hugs.
";Te estás volviendo tan alto, Benji! (You are getting very tall, Benji!)" Jorge says.
"Lo se! Gracias. (I know! Thanks.)" Benji smiles, and Luca comes to say hello.
"¡Hola!" Luca says happily.
"¡Hola, Luca!" Luciana says.
"Papi, estoy aburrido." (Papi, I'm bored) Theodore tells of his boredom to RJ, feeling impatient for dinner and the other guests to arrive.
"Ten paciencia, Teddy, ¿Quieres jugar? (Be patient, Teddy, do you want to play?)" RJ replies.
"¡Si! Contigo? (Yes, with you?)" Theodore asks.
RJ nods and goes to play a short game of cars with Theodore.
While the grandparents sit and talk in the living room, Will's family arrive and knock on the door.
"Come on in!" Will says as Karen, Hank, Logan, Erin, Jacob and Misty all come in, giving Will hugs.
"Nana, Pop, Auntie Misty, Uncle Logan, Uncle Jacob and Auntie Erin are here!" Will says to the kids with a smile.
"Hiiiii!" Luca yells loudly as he runs over to greet Karen, Hank, Logan, Erin, Jacob and Misty.
"Aaaaaa! Ba ba baaaa!" Arya and Oliver both babble loudly.
Oliver was being held by Benji, but wanted to be set down on the floor, so he's there at the moment.
"Hello, everyone! Look how cute you all look." Jacob says to Luca, Arya and Oliver.
Averie, Coralei, Harlow and Benji come over to the front door as well, excited to see their aunts, uncles and other grandparents.
"Teddy, more guests have arrived! Let's go welcome them, ok?" RJ asks, and Theodore nods, walking over with RJ.
"Hi! Happy Thanksgiving!" Benji, Coralei, Averie and Harlow all say.
"Happy Thanksgiving!" Misty and Erin both say.
"Oh, look at you, Arya! So pretty!" Karen tells the baby, smiling.
"And look at the hair you have, Oliver." Hank
coos.
Logan smiles as he notices Theodore and RJ.
"You have your hair styled so nicely, Teddy. I like it!" Logan mentions.
"Thank you!" Theodore giggles.
"Do you know Arya said her first word today?"
Will says proudly to his family.
"Aww! What was it?" Karen asks as Will hands Arya to her.
"She said Papi! And Oliver learned how to bark." RJ says causing everyone to cheer and then chuckle.
"Baaaa!" Oliver yells happily to everyone.
"Yes, we are talking about you!" Benji says as he picks up Oliver and hands him to Will.
Will kisses Oliver before sitting him in Erin's lap.
Will and RJ sit with Karen, Hank, Erin, Logan, Jacob, Misty, Jorge, Delores and Luciana and catch up while the kids and the dogs mostly stayed in the playroom and hung out.
Dobby, Astrid and Sammy are all sleeping on their dog beds, preparing for their Thanksgiving meals later on.
Misty plays a game of peek-a-boo with Arya, which amuses Arya but also confuses her, since she didn't understand object permanence yet.
Benji is teaching Harlow to build with Lego bricks, since she's always asking to help when her oldest brother builds with them.
"Good job! You made a nice robot." Benji says, and Harlow nods eagerly while they keep building.
"Are you excited for Thanksgiving dinner,
Sammy?" Averie asks the dog as she pets him, and he wakes up.
Sammy lifts his head and tilts it curiously at Averie, wagging his tail in reply, very patient with her.
"Me too. So many foods to try." Averie giggles.
Finally, not much later, Ricardo, Martha, Ryan, Brandi, Whitney and Meghan arrive. RJ and Will go to the door to greet them.
"Hello! Hola! Come inside!" Will says to the rest of their guests, asking how they are and such.
"Dinner is almost ready! Just finishing up cooking." RJ explains to his side of the family.
Everyone chats for a little bit and they all eventually sit down at the beautifully arranged dinner tables.
Arya and Oliver are sitting in their high chairs and they are happily banging on the tray.
"Are you two excited? Yeah! Dinner is about to start!" Will says in a babyfied voice at the twins.
Benji, Coralei, Averie, Theodore and Harlow are seated all across the table surrounded by family. Luca is sitting between RJ and Will in his little booster seat.
"Aww, they are getting so big! Look at them!" Whitney says as she takes a few pictures.
"All of the kids have! I feel like all of them have grown so much since I saw them and that wasn't a long time ago!" Megan says as she sips on her drink.
"Oh for sure! The kids are growing like weeds!" Whitney says to everyone.
"Tell us about it! These kids can eat a house! Will and I are always buying food!" RJ says with a smile.
"Benji is five foot now! Almost five foot one!" Will says with a chuckle and Benji smiles.
"His dad was six five, so I'm expecting Benji to probably be the same!" Whitney says talking about Benji's biological father, her son.
Benji never talks about his biological father because all he remembered was how mean he was. But as Benji has grown up and matured, he has learned why his father was that way and how substances can change a person.
Benji knows his biological mom and dad loved him to pieces but substances changed them and took them away in a horrific way. Benji still struggles with PTSD when it comes to the fire that killed his parents and burned him but he's stronger because of it.
Everyone takes a moment of silence, maybe even some silent prayers, and then they start serving food, RJ and Will especially making sure to give the little kids their food first.
RJ gets food for Theodore, giving him the plate once it's ready.
Theodore is talking in Spanish to Martha and Ricardo happily about how school's been going, and they enthusiastically answer.
RJ smiles at his parents and son talking together, although the older kids aren't fluently bilingual yet -- mostly Teddy and Harlow are -- they can all have conversations in pretty good Spanish.
"¡Papi! Gracias por la cena, es muy delicioso!"
(Thanks for the dinner, it's very yummy!) Theodore says.
"¡De nada, Teddy!" RJ says back.
"I really like this salad recipe, Will, where did you get it from?" Karen asks curiously as she takes a bite of food.
"Oh, we have some old cookbooks! That's also where I got the recipe for the mashed potatoes." Will tells his mother.
RJ feeds the twins some mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, and both babies like it a lot.
"Do Oliver and Arya want turkey and salad, too?" Harlow wonders.
"No, they're too little this year. They barely have any teeth! So I'm giving them soft foods." RJ says to Harlow.
Coralei is enjoying her food too, being careful not to get it all over her clothes.
"Aaaa!" Arya yells loudly and happily.
"I'm getting you some more, baby! Be patient, princess." RJ says to Arya as he tries to eat and feed Arya some food.
Will feeds Oliver a bite of cranberry sauce and Oliver makes a face.
"You don't like that buddy?" Will asks Oliver as everyone giggles loudly.
"Naaaaa!" Oliver agrees, and uses his hands to eat some mashed potatoes.
A half hour later, RJ and Will serve their families some pumpkin pie and cheesecake to anyone who wants it, and Will feeds the twins some pumpkin pie filling.
"Mo!" Arya demands more pie, really liking the taste.
"Yes, baby, I'm getting you some more!" Will laughs.
"I think pumpkin is becoming Arya's new favorite food!" RJ mentions and smiles.
Everyone continues eating and chatting together, and they have a lovely rest of the night. Their night is filled with laughter, family and friendship! :)
*Picture of Averie, Will, Luca, Theodore, Benji, Harlow, Arya, RJ, Oliver and Coralei all standing together. Will is holding Luca and RJ is holding Arya and Oliver*
shep689 happy thanksgiving 🦃🤎
*Picture of Arya and Oliver sitting in their high chairs with food all over them*
shep689 arya + ollie's first ever thanksgiving! they
really love mashed potatoes! 🦃
*Picture of Dobby, Astrid and Sammy all sitting together and they are getting ready to eat*
shep689 the pups are ready for their special meal for thanksgiving. spoiled rotten 🐶🐶🐶
*Picture of Will and RJ kissing each other*
shep689 thankful for you, always 💛
*Picture of Averie, Will, Luca, Theodore, Benji, Harlow, Arya, RJ, Oliver and Coralei all standing together. Will is holding Luca and RJ is holding Arya and Oliver*
damnitrj the annual family picture for turkey day!! 🦃
*Picture of Averie, Sammy, Coralei, Astrid, Theodore, Luca, Harlow, Dobby, Arya, Benji and Oliver*
damnitrj Thankful for these eleven who call me Papi 🥰
*Picture of RJ and Will holding each other and RJ is kissing Will's cheek*
damnitrj Also extremely thankful for you! My love ❤️
*Picture of RJ feeding Arya and Will is feeding Oliver*
damnitrj Arie and Ollie really love mashed potatoes and peas and also gravy for some reason? 😅