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“No need for firefighters, then,” Kee responded with a nod.

Judson’s gaze found Nick across the table, but he quickly lowered it to his plate. “Nope.”

I snorted a laugh as I took my seat, wondering what that was about, but once again completely lost when they spoke to each other. They used English, mostly, but nothing made sense to any native speaker. It was their own language that they’d been perfecting since they’d come out of the womb.

Wren shook his head, but he put a hand on my thigh and squeezed it as soon as I sat down, so I knew he was pleased I'd made Judson move. I lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, before I settled in my seat. Everything smelled amazing, and even though I’d snacked on appetizers just like everyone else, I was suddenly starving. But we all knew the rules, and no one dug in until Fern and Gemma had come around and filled everyone’s glasses with their drink of choice. Only then did Mom stand up.

“I’m so happy you’re all here today. Words can’t even describe how thankful I am for each and every one of you. My heart is so full of love and gratitude. Normally, this would be the part where we went around the table and each said what we’re grateful for. But if we did that, our food would get cold, since there’s so many of us!” Mom paused for the smattering of laughs, and her grin couldn’t get any wider. “Instead, I’ll just ask if there’s anyone who has something they’d like to share.”

A few hands went up, which made everyone laugh again. Mom pointed to Lovett first, one of the hands who had been with us for years. He wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter, who were sitting on either side of him, and cleared his throat.

“We got approved for the house. So I’m thankful that worked out. We close next month.”

There was a chorus of “congratulations!” and more than a few people groaned good-naturedly about having to move in December. Once that died down, Mom turned to Shiloh, who I was surprised raised his hand.

His voice shook a little as he said, “I’m thankful for Bodhi and Mimi and Papa and everybody. Because, you know.”

Mom had to rush around the table and kiss his head, which made Shiloh turn beet red. We did know, and I thought it was super sweet that he’d spoken up. I had to clear my own throat of emotions, and when Wren put his hand on my thigh again, I caught it with my own and squeezed. Wren leaned into me, just a little, and I was able to breathe.

“We’ll go next,” Crew said and kept his gaze fixed on Mal as he continued. “I’m thankful for my amazing husband, my awesome son, and especially my sister this year. Because we have three viable embryos and we’re going to try our first transfer in the new year.”

The joy at the table was loud, and I was thrilled for them. But I found Gemma, checking in, trying to gauge how she felt. From the tears and the grin, I was thinking she was pretty happy about the whole thing. Both for her part in it and that she didn’t have to go through it again, I was guessing. Hopefully, everything worked out as it should.

A few other people went. Demi and Luke both expressed their gratitude for their healthy children, Wyanne for working at a place that allowed her to be herself—she finished that by giving both her wife and their boyfriend a kiss—and Emery added that he’d been asked to buy into the practice, which was a big deal. Every announcement was met with happiness and joy, but it was starting to take a long time. I caught my dad’s eye, he cleared his throat, and Mom clapped her hands again.

“I know we’re all very grateful to be together, healthy and happy. But let’s not let this food get cold. Everybody dig in!”

Cheers went up again, but we all did as we were told. I knew about three bites in that I’d going back for seconds of the green bean casserole and the mashed potatoes, at least. I didn’t know what Nick did to them, and I was sure it was Nick because they didn’t taste like Mom’s, but they were outstanding. Wren was talking more than eating, which I noticed he’d been doing since we arrived, so I nudged him. When he turned to me, I gave his plate a pointed look. He made a shooing motion, but I kept staring, and he finally picked up his fork and dug in. I made a pleased sound, and he froze for just a second before fidgeting in his seat.

I leaned in to speak in his ear. “You all right?”

“Yep!” he said a little too loud, and didn’t look at me as he put a bite of turkey in his mouth.

The conversation of so many people, there were close to fifty of us, made it loud in the room. But not so loud that when Mom made a screeching noise a few minutes later, we didn’t all hear it. A weird sort of quiet fell over the room and we all turned to her.

“What do you mean you’re not getting married?” Mom asked, still too loud and Hawk dropped his head back and let out a groan.

Dad was fighting a smile when he called out, “What’s this now?”

“Why don’t you harass Isles and Jer? They’ve been together almost as long as Demi and Luke and they aren’t married yet,” Hawk grumbled

Isley held up his hands. “Don’t drag us into this.”

Jerrica was laughing. “We’ll get married when we’re ready and we’re not there yet.”

Mom ignored the whole exchange and turned to Dad, eyes ablaze. Even though they were seated at opposite ends, she had no problem making herself heard. “Your son says he’s not getting married.”

“Which one? I have a lot of them.” Dad couldn’t even keep his lips from twitching.

“Michael,” Mom warned, and my siblings and I all went “oooh” knowing he was in trouble. His full name nearly never came out.

“Baby,” Dad began, but Mom made a cutting motion with her hand and he snapped his mouth shut.

She turned to Carter, who was sitting on the other side of Hawk. Carter looked utterly unbothered by the exchange, and stared back at her with a pleasant smile on his face. After a few seconds, Mom huffed out a breath.

“Don’t you want to marry my son?”

Carter’s smile only grew. “I love your son with every fiber of my being. If he wanted to get married, then we would get married. But he doesn’t need the ceremony and the piece of paper, and neither do I.”