Sierra smiled widely, as she looked at everyone around the table. “New friends.”
“Damn, you took mine,” Seb grumped next to her, but grinned. “Being able to have a job I love.”
Rey smiled slightly. “Learning new things.” He looked at me with such meaning in his gaze that I had to look away.
Penny and Poppy had a common one, about their house’s roof being fixed before the weather turned bad in the fall.
Ben took River’s hand and lifted it. “This ring.”
Everyone awwed again.
“Old friends,” River whispered, then leaned in to kiss Ben’s cheek.
I cleared my throat and said, “Having a home where I feel safe.”
Hudson had been quiet, but he quietly murmured, “Bravery.”
Nobody asked him to elaborate, so Theo cleared his throat. “For the time we had with Ruth.”
There were few sets of misty eyes at that, so I pushed back my chair and looked at Rey. “Come on sous chef, let’s go carve the turkey.”
He followed me to the island, and we worked together to get the massive beast carved and on a couple of serving plates.
Soon, everyone had their plates filled and we started to stuff our faces. The discussion ceased almost completely for a while, then started again in fits and pauses.
Eventually, most of us stopped eating for the time being and wobbled to the couches or, in some cases, collapsed on the floor next to them.
“Let’s rest, then figure out how much we want to clear out,” I mumbled and felt like I wanted to pop the button of my jeans.
Since it was a Saturday, the normal Thanksgiving programs weren’t on TV, so instead, Rey put on some animated film most of us hadn’t seen, and we sort of zoned out for about half an hour.
Then, the sisters got up and went to clear the table and start the dishwasher. I raised my hand in thanks, and Poppy sent me a kiss.
Hudson joined them, and then Rey tore his attention away from the TV and went to man the coffee machine.
“Whenever you want a drink, let me know. I assume it’s dessert time soon!” he called from the kitchen.
I groaned and pushed myself up, then went to make sure the pies were ready to be served. There were also two blueberry cheesecakes, because we’d had the ingredients and who didn’t love a cheesecake?
I organized everything on the island, while Rey started on the drinks. He even had a notepad just so he’d remember.
Since we were the only two in the kitchen, I grinned at him and nodded toward the pad.
He smiled and continued making the next one. “What? I’m efficient.”
Efficient in turning my world upside down for sure.Jesus.
* * * *
We had the dessert, after which the sisters said they needed to get home to their animals. Since Sierra had plans with her mom the next day, she hitched a ride with them.
“Board games?” River asked hopefully, and then, since Mona was still awake, he looked at Rey and said “But not Cards Against Humanity. Yet.”
We ended up playing two separate games. Mona found Battleships absolutely fascinating, and Toby eagerly agreed to play with her.
The rest of us who wanted to play—myself, Rey, Lake, River, Ben, and Seb—started a game of Codenames.
It was fascinating to see how everyone’s brains worked, and since it was sort of a word-based game, Ben and Lake were really good at it.
