Page 24 of Titan’s Mate

As soon as he’d pushed her chair in, Titan dashed out to the porch. She could hear him and Brock arguing in hushed tones, and then they were back.

Brock appeared first. He had a cloth napkin (actually a plaid dish towel) over his arm like a waiter in a fancy restaurant, and a heaped platter of barbecued ribs that smelled so good they literally made Mari’s mouth water.

“Madam, may we serve?”

Mari sat up, very straight and proper. “Thank you, garçon, you may.”

He grinned and brought the ribs over to the table. Titan came in right behind him, also with a towel over his arm, carrying a platter covered by… well, she figured it was supposed to be one of those silver covers like in a restaurant, but it was really the bottom of a turkey roaster covered in aluminum foil.

She could not wait to see what the hell these guys had been up to.

Titan set the platter on the table. Brock said, “It’s not really Thanksgiving without turkey, so…” He did a game-show host flourish with his hands, and said, “Ta-daa!”

Titan lifted the cover.

At the front of the platter was Sebastian, dressed in a little tux jacket with a white shirt front, and a red bow tie with a matching cummerbund.

Behind him, in strict formation, was a fleet of little turkeys about four inches long, sculpted out of some kind of mystery meat, with wings and turkey heads and fan tails. On a bed of Tater Tots, with parsley garnish.

She’d thought she was a little short of Tater Tots when she made the casseroles. They must have stolen them when she was in the pantry.

Mari stared at the platter, sniffing the meaty aroma. “Is that… are those Spam turkeys?”

Brock looked down his nose at her. “Certainly not, madam. They’re Spurkeys.”

Titan was obviously biting the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face.

Mari started giggling helplessly. That was what had made the clanking sound in Titan’s grocery bag. All those cans of Spam. And they’d spent hours sculpting Spurkeys out of them.

“These are beyond awesome,”she said. “And Sebastian loves being head Spurkey. How did you get the heads and tails and wings to stay on?”

“Toothpicks,” Titan said. “Lots and lots of toothpicks. So be careful how you eat them or you’ll stab yourself in the mouth.”

“Noted.” She could not stop giggling. For some reason, the Spurkeys and Sebastian’s duckie tux made her really, really happy. “I love them so much.”

Titan and Brock high-fived. “We rock,” Brock told Titan.

Mari said, “This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever. Wait!” she added, as Titan reached for a Spurkey with the serving fork.

They froze.

She held up her phone and smiled wickedly at them. “Pictures for Kitty.”

They ate until they were stuffed, and the ribs and Spurkeys were no more. After they cleaned up, Brock put on more coffee and they broke out the pie and Swiss roll.

Mari handed the hot fudge to Brock, as Titan headed for the TV. “Put this in the microwave, would you? It has to be warm enough to pour over the Swiss roll.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

She smacked him lightly on the arm, and he grinned at her.

“For serious,” she said, “thank you both for a great Thanksgiving. And for the attack Spurkeys.” She actually had stabbed her mouth on one of them, but it was worth it.

Brock stopped on his way to the microwave. “Thank you,” he said quietly, holding her eyes. “For saving us from beer and junk food with Plan C.”

She smiled at him. “At least you get the football. Isn’t there a game starting soon?”

She saw him exchange glances with Titan, who picked up the TV remote and brought up the DVR menu.