I gaze at my living room, and the sight makes me happy. My parents and my brother with his family are settled with drinks. My baby nephew sleeps in my dad's arms. The boys are glued to their tablets and are quiet. The fire is lit, a playlist of movie soundtracks plays in the background, and the atmosphere is cozy.
I did my best to remove all the cat hair from the couch and chairs. But Batman just crawled on my mom's lap and is purring happily while she caresses him. I see tufts of white hair falling on her dark skirt, but she doesn't seem to mind.
My birthday and Thanksgiving fell on the same day this year. I invited my family to celebrate both occasions. My mom found me daring and offered to make the turkey. I refused, but she looked relieved when I said Taylor would help me with cooking.
"I don't understand all the fuss. You season the damn bird and put it in the oven. It's no science," Taylor says while he takes a sweet potato casserole dish from the bottom of the oven.
"I know. I'm not a chef, but I can read a recipe. Is my food so bad they don't trust me?"
"It tastes good, and you haven't poisoned me yet. I trust your cooking. I guess they see you ordering food often and think you can't cook,"
"That must be it. It's that cooking for one person is not appealing,"
"I can relate. The pizza parlor people recognize my number already," he chuckles.
"Lisa invited her date. I'm wondering if he will come. They have gone out a few times. She is smitten with the mystery man,"
"I'm still betting he is Pasty Axel from the supermarket," Taylor laughs while checking the turkey for the last time.
"Oh God, can you imagine? Maybe she got him to wear bronzer to make him look healthier," I help him to take out the heavy pan and place it on the stove.
"You are so mean Nina. Any word from Nash?"
"Yeah, he apologized for falling asleep and asked me out again. I declined politely. As much as I like gaming, having my life turn around games is not my kind of fun,"
"Can I date him?" Taylor grins cheekily.
"Help yourself,"
The doorbell rings, and I head to open it. Lisa stands outside with a few boxes of pie.
"Happy birthday, sis!" she gives me a hug while balancing the desserts in one hand.
"Where is your date?" I look around for him.
"He celebrates Thanksgiving with his family first and then has another event to attend,"
"Too bad. I wanted to meet him,"
"There will be other occasions," she winks at me.
Lisa looks... relaxed and happy. I've never seen her this way. She is always edgy and suspicious of her guys. It seems as if this man has blown serenity in her.
"Are you dating Pasty Axel?"
My sister looks confused.
"Who is that?"
"Date number one. The guy Mom brought to lunch for me,"
"God no! Do you call him like that?" she laughs. "He could do with a bit of bronzer,"
Taylor gives me the signal that the food is ready. I invite the family to the table we improvised in the large farm kitchen. Everything looks and smells delicious.
"Look at this bounty. You kids outdid yourselves," Mom says with delight.
We all take our places, and the happy clatter of plates and spoons begins. My sister in law suggests we open a restaurant. Elijah takes three helpings of everything. I look at Taylor in front of me and feel grateful for him. He looks more handsome than ever. His hair is short now, and his cheeks have a pinkish tint from the cooking efforts. He smiles at me, and suddenly I feel shy, so I stare at my plate.
"Nina, darling," Dad says, and my attention turns to him. "We know how hard you have worked all year to make your business work. I know it will, because you are my girl, and you give all your love to the things that matter to you. We have a well-deserved gift for you," he hands me an envelope.
I open the envelope to find reservations to a fancy hotel for a week starting after Christmas and ending on New Year. It includes a dinner and the entrance to a party. Taylor grins at me. He told them about my lack of funds for a proper vacation.
"Now you only need to make sure you stick with one date for the next month," Elijah says before drenching his food in gravy. His wife gives him an annoyed look. "What?" he looks around the table. "She has been on dates, and none of them have worked. You can't tell me all those guys were dicks. There must have been someone worth dating,"
"You are so fucking tactful," Lisa says to him. My nephews giggle at the curse.
I feel uncomfortable at the accusation. I've given my best to find a man. I'm guilty of ruining a few dates, but none of these guys clicked with me.
"Enough!" Dad says. "I'm sorry Nina. You have tried your best. It was foolish of me to join the dating project. Consider it done. Elijah, eat your damn food,"
The boys are about to roll off their chairs from the laughter. I stand up and head to the kitchen to prepare dessert. Taylor comes next to me and holds my hand.
"Don't mind your brother. I'm witness to your efforts. Even I picked terrible dates for you,"
"I'm missing two dates. Let's get one out of the way," I walk to my open laptop on the counter where we have been looking at recipes. I click the bookmarked dating site page and click on a random message. After a quick scan, I reply a quick answer to the guy, saying I want to get to know him.
"Did you check the photo?" Taylor asks.
"Why bother?" I shrug.
"I don't know. Maybe he has a horn growing on his forehead or two tongues,"
I stare at Taylor and burst in laughter. He always knows how to make me feel better. I open the guy's profile. He looks fine. His name is Hyun, a Korean guy my age.
"There you go. As normal-looking as they come,"
The doorbell rings, and I hear Lisa laughing. I look towards the living room and see Evan. She hugs him and gives him a light kiss on his lips.
"Are you dating Evan?" I ask and can't help the giggle that escapes me. Lisa nods and places her arm around his waist. He kisses the top of her head.
"Happy birthday... sister in law?" he says.
I feel excited at this development. Evan has become a good friend and now he is dating my sister. He never figured out that Lisa and I are related as we don't look alike. I've never told Lisa about him either. He says that after checking my profile reactions together with Taylor, he opened one for himself. That is how he met my sister. My family finds him lovely and a good match. Dessert tastes sweeter with the new addition to the family.
Eventually, time to say goodbye comes and Taylor stays to help me with the dishes.
"I haven't given you a gift," Taylor says as he dries a plate.
"You helped me to cook, and you are here. I can't wish for a better gift,"
"I made something for you. If you don't like it, just chuck it in a drawer," he goes to his jacket on the coat rack and comes back with a tiny box.
I unwrap it and find something so lovely that my eyes get teary. Inside is a necklace, and the charm is a heart made out of a computer motherboard panel.
I bend to kiss him, but he moves his head too quickly, and my lips land on his'.