“Jace, are you ready?” mom asked.
“Yea, I’m ready mom,” I said, going out to the living room.
She smiled at me. “You look so handsome!”
“Thanks mom,” I said. We were going to Mitch’s house for Thanksgiving. We either drove a couple of hours to be with family, or ended up at the Marion house. It was snowing pretty hard out, so we had decided to spend the day with the Marion family.
Mom and I got in the car and drove to the Marion house. Mom seemed in a good mood, and that made me happy. Holidays had been hard when my dad had left, and it made me extremely happy to see my mom enjoying them again.
We pulled into the driveway and I helped mom carry the food we had made up and into the house. We went upstairs, where Carol was setting the table. Jasper was in the kitchen, wrestling with a pie and a can of whipped cream.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” I said with a smile.
“Hi Jace! Hi Erica! Happy Thanksgiving!” Carol said, coming over and hugging both of us. “You made it just in time! I was just about to put the food out.” She glanced back at Jasper and went over, smacking him in the back of the head. She took the whipped cream from him and effortlessly sprayed it on the pie. “Men are idiots. Never trust them to do anything right.”
“Speaking of idiotic men, where are your sons?” I asked.
“They’re idiotic boys, not idiotic men. Jasper woke Mitch up about a half hour ago, so he and Shane are probably just hiding in their rooms so they don’t have to help out,” Carol said. “Go grab them for me while we put the food out.”
I nodded and turned, heading down the hallway. I threw open Shane’s bedroom door, letting myself into his room.
“I’m not helping you with pie!” he snapped, turning around. “Oh. Hi Jace.”
“I wasn’t going to ask you to help me with pie,” I said.
“I’d be confused if you did.” He stood up and came over to me. “Is it safe to go out there?”
“Safe as it’ll ever be,” I said with a shrug. “I’m going to go drag your brother out to eat.”
“Good luck with that!” he said, pushing past me to go devour all the food in his sight.
I went over to Mitch’s room, knocking on the door. He pulled it open, peeking out suspiciously.
“Oh. You’re not my dad,” he said, opening the door. “Wait, is this about the pie?”
“This is not about the pie,” I said, grabbing his shirt and pulling him close, kissing him.
“I’d love to eat you, but I’d rather eat turkey first,” Mitch said, pulling away from my lips. He gave me his cute, crooked smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Softy,” I said, punching his shoulder and smiling at him.
We walked out to the dining room together and sat down. Mom sat next to me, giving me a smile.
“I’m glad you’re happy, mom,” I said.
She hugged me. “I love you Jace,” she said, her smile getting wider. “I’m glad you’re home from college for this.”
“Your mom can have you. I’m leaving you for pie,” Mitch said.
“What the hell is with this family and pie?” I asked.
“Dude. Pie,” Shane said.
“Okay Dean Winchester,” I said.
He tugged on his shirt so that I could see his anti-possession tattoo. “I’m a hardcore fangirl, leave me alone.”
I tugged my shirt down so he could see my matching tattoo. “Does that make me a moose?”
“Sarah Palin is going to bake you into cookies,” Mitch said.
“And what a way to go,” I said, fixing my shirt.
“Shut up,” Carol said, smacking Mitch in the back of the head since he was the closest. She sat down and we all held hands, saying grace together.
“I’m glad you two could come,” Jasper said to us with a smile.
I smiled back, loving the Marion family. Whenever I spent holidays with them, I didn’t feel lonely. With them, I had two parents and I had brothers.
“Here, here’s a wishbone,” Carol said, tossing it to me. “Fight it out with whatever idiot you choose.”
“Mitchy and I will both grab this end,” Shane said, grabbing the opposite end of it. Mitch reached over and also grabbed it.
I grinned at the Marion brothers as we tugged on it hard, snapping it in half. I let out a triumphant yell as I got the bigger half.
“I blame you,” Mitch said, tossing the smaller half at Shane’s face.
I laughed and set the bigger half down. We loaded our plates with food and started to eat hungrily, talking about college and Christmas and anything that came to mind, laughing, getting in trouble when Shane and I started to throw olives at each other.
“I am stuffed. I need an hour before dessert,” Mitch said, leaning back once we had finished eating.
“Let’s go watch the game, boys,” Jasper said, gesturing at us to get up.
We followed Jasper to the living room, turning on the TV. None of us actually liked football besides Jasper, but it had become a tradition for us to watch the game with him while we waited for ourselves to be able to eat dessert.
I laid down, my head in Mitch’s lap. Mitch bent over, pressing his lips to mine. I kissed him back, smiling when he pulled away.
I curled up and he ran a hand through my hair. “Glad I got to spend the day with you, midget.”
“I love you, asshole,” he said, flicking my forehead.
I smiled taking his free hand in mine and squeezing it. We watched the game together, and I felt happy, truly happy. I was surrounded by people who I loved and who loved me back, and I had my boyfriend here with me. It was a good Thanksgiving.