"Hi, guys! Happy Thanksgiving!" Cassie stepped aside to let the Cumberbatch clan inside the house. Ben and Cillian were dressed nicely in button ups and ties, while Eleanore had on a beautiful designer dress. She looked like she was going to a premiere or a fashion show!
Cillian sweetly handed Cassie a pie as he said, "Dad and I made it ourselves." She took it as she told him, "Oh, thank you so much, sweetie. I can't wait to dig into it! You're going to help me get the biggest piece, right?" He laughed as he nodded and Ben couldn't help contain his smile at this exchange.
"Thank you so much for having us over," he told her. "We don't know enough people here to host and, well, it would have seem to be a bit of a waste to cook all this food for three people." Cassie waved him off as she said, "Of course! I hope you can join us for Christmas Eve, too, because we throw one heck of a party!"
Cillian gasped as he looked up at his father. "Can we, dad?" He asked. Ben chuckled, then looked over to his wife. She, of course, was on her phone. "Darling, maybe be off your phone today," he boldly told her. She gave him a double take and looked at him like he was crazy. "Excuse you," she scoffed.
Cassie cleared her throat, then put her arm around Cillian. "Why don't I go take you to Ethan and his cousins," she told him. "He's so excited to introduce you." Ben gave her a grateful look before turning back to Eleanore.
"You heard me," he told her. "I'm sick of this, El! You're always on that damned thing and you claim it's work, but it's Thanksgiving and the office is closed! Christ, even when we're at a friend's house, you can't even bother to—."
She quickly interrupted him by saying, "They are not my friends! They're your friends and now I'm being dragged to things like this just to please you! I could be with any of my friends, but here I am, so I will be on this fucking thing as much as I'd like!"
Ben stood there in shock. He thought he might get through to her by being a bit more harsh, but clearly not. "Pretend, then," he told her. "Pretend like you do in this marriage." With that, he quickly walked away and into the lively Thanksgiving party.
He sported a quick smile when he saw Cassie walk over to him with a drink in hand. "Gin and tonic," she said, handing him a glass. "Figured you could use it." His smile faltered a bit. "Yeah," he sighed. "Thank you for taking Cill away from that. I don't know how many more he can see."
She gave him a sympathetic smile, then turned to where Ethan and Cillian were talking and laughing with his cousins. "I know what you mean," she told him. "I thought things were getting better but..." She quickly shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this," she apologized. "It's Thanksgiving. We're supposed to be giving thanks for what we have. Right?" Ben let out a light laugh as he told her, "Right. Come on, show me what I can help with."
They both brought out the food and set it up on the long dining room table. Joel came to help, but was dragged away by his three brothers to watch football. He didn't protest to that. Ethan and Cillian offered their help, so Ben and Cassie had them set the table.
"Make sure the knife faces inward," Cassie told her son, as she took his hand and flipped the knife over. "When it's out, it means hostility." Ethan seemed rather impressed with that fact and fixed all of the knives...except for one. Cassie watched as he was about to flip one over, but didn't.
She didn't have to see who's name was on the place card because it was at one end of the table. It was Joel's. She wanted so badly to ask her son why he did that, but it's the holidays and she didn't want to stir anything up. So, she fixed the knife herself and went about bringing the rest of the food out.
She called for dinner once everything was perfect and everyone filed in to find their seat. Joel sat at one end of the table, while Cassie sat at the other. She made sure to put Cillian, Ben and Eleanore near her. Thank goodness she did because Ben and her brothers were getting along insanely well.
Her brothers had flown down from Boston, Michigan, California, and Nevada just to be here. There wasn't anything they wouldn't do for their little and only sister. As much as she loved them and loved how much they were getting along with Ben, she did note that they were never like this with Joel.
As a matter of fact, they hated him, but would never tell her that.
Cillian and Ethan were off in their own world, but she did notice Eleanore speaking with her cousin and being a bit too friendly with him. With Ben being distracted by cracking jokes with the brothers, he didn't notice. Cassie did, however, and she was not going to let it slide.
Joel made his usual speech before dinner with Cassie adding a few things at the end, then everyone dug into the delicious meal Cassie had prepared. She's been slaving away since four in the morning and was glad to see it was all worth it. Her brothers were praising her cooking, as was Joel's parents and everyone else.
"It's great, honey," Joel told her with a small smile. She gave an insincere smile back, then continued to eat her food. It was quiet while everyone ate, but conversations started up again when everyone was almost finished.
Eleanore and Cassie were even having a decent discussion! Although, Cassie suspected it was because of all the wine Eleanore had, she was still intrigued. She's only heard of her work through Ben, but to hear it from her was much more interesting. The fashion industry did not seem like a great place to work.
Once dinner ended, everyone took their dishes into the kitchen and tried to help washing up. Cassie was banned by her brothers so they could clean everything up. She was not about to argue with that. However, she would have liked to argue to Joel that, while her brothers are helping out, his were causing a ruckus over the football game and creating a mess.
Thankfully, Joel's mother was a decent woman and scolded them for it.
"Your brothers are the best," Ben's voice said as he approached Cassie. "Tucker, Charlie, Keith, and Casey. I even remembered their names! Did your parents name you Cassie to purposely confuse people with Casey?"
Cassie laughed as she told him, "Sometimes I think so! We're not that far apart in age, so when we were in school, kids would call us each other's names on purpose. It's what made us the closest, though. We consider each other twins."
"That's amazing," he told her. "I've always siblings, but was never lucky enough to get them. I hated being an only child. I'm hoping to give Cillian a brother or sister...well, hoped. I doubt we'll be having anymore, unfortunately."
He looked to Eleanore, who was drunkenly talking to some guy. He noticed she was being just a bit too friendly. "Who is that?" He asked, his voice a bit on edge. Cassie gulped, then told him, "My cousin Alex." He humphed, then took a long swig of his drink.
After a little while, dessert was set out with some coffee and wine. Cassie praised Ben and Cillian for their pie and even helped herself to seconds. As she took her time with that piece, she decided to speak with her cousin Alex while Eleanore was distracted.
He had no idea she was married, or even to Ben for that matter, and felt horrible for playing along with her games. He wanted to go over to Ben and apologize, but Cassie advised against that plan. She just made him promise to keep away.
One by one, people started to leave. First, it was Joel's work friends, then his parents. His brothers, then Cassie's cousins soon followed, and finally her brothers with their families. Soon, it was just the Edgerton's and the Cumberbatch's.
"Today was really something," Ben said as all of the adults sat in the living room, sipping on wine. "Thank you so much." They all clinked glasses as Joel told him, "It was our pleasure. Of course, it wouldn't have been anything without my wife's cooking."
Cassie ignored him and took a sip of her wine. "Wish my husband praised my cooking," a now slightly drunk Eleanore said. Ben gave her a double take, then started to laugh. "Since when do you cook?" He asked. "If anything, it should be the other way 'round."
She scoffed at him, but he ignored her. He noticed Cassie smirking into her glass and he couldn't help but smile.
"I am going to check on the boys," she announced. Ben stood up with her as he said, "I'll go with you." They walked up to Ethan's room, where they saw the boys knocked out on the floor with game controllers in their hands.
Ben and Cassie couldn't stifle their laughs.
They each leaned up against the doorway and smiled fondly at their boys. Cassie then raised her glass up to Ben and said, "Happy Thanksgiving." He clinked his glass with hers and said, "Here's to many more."