December 2025 #2
They stayed outside, and both Thomas and Regina pulled out of the conga line to sit down with them.
Sandra complimented my daughter’s drink-making skills, and she yelled back a thank-you as she danced by, grabbing her uncle Dane, since she knew that there was no way he was going to remain outside with Michael.
Even entering a conga line for a short time, to be able to get inside with me, was preferable.
“Narrow escape?” I teased my brother.
“You’re not even kidding,” he muttered, then squinted at me. “Why aren’t you dancing?”
“Someone has to keep the circus on track,” I said, grinning at him.
“Thank you for doing either this or Christmas every year. It’s so helpful to have a place that I know I can go and it will be stress-free.”
“Even with Michael here?”
He chuckled. “He doesn’t bother me, not really. I’m sure he’s far more uncomfortable than I will ever be. And besides, they won’t stay long.”
“They might.”
“No. I suspect this is a bit too low-key for them. They both prefer things that are a bit more fancy.”
“Maybe they did, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I think this whole thing, the misunderstanding, has changed them.”
“Is that right?”
“She hugged me when she came in,” I told him. “Michael got all verklempt over Sam giving him a drink.”
Dane nodded.
“I hate it when you patronize me.”
“Me? What? Never.”
Less than an hour later, Sandra and Michael had to leave because they had been invited to a party with friends in Hinsdale.
I glanced at Dane while they were saying their goodbyes to me. I tried to send home food with them, but they turned me down flat.
“Tupperware? Really? You expected them to take that?” Aaron asked me, the look on his face telling me I was nuts.
“You take food with you in plastic containers,” I reminded him.
“And Mrs. Kappel washes it so I bring it back,” he said brightly.
“You’re a bit too bourgeoisie for Sandra and Michael,” Dane told me.
“Absolutely right,” Aaron agreed. “That grape salad is to die for. Make sure when I leave you pack me up quite a bit of that. I’ll eat it when I get home while we’re watching TV.”
“Same,” Dane commented.
I smiled, looking at the two of them.
“Whatever is wrong with you?” Dane asked, scowling at me.
“Nothing,” I said with a sigh. “I’m just happy.”
“How much moscato have you had?” Aaron wanted to know.
When I stepped into him, wrapping my arms around his waist, he gasped.
“Check his forehead, he might have a fever,” Dane ordered him.
I didn’t even mind Aaron pressing his hand to my skin.
“I’m so thankful for you,” I told him. “You take such good care of my girl. You give her wings to fly, and you gave her George to make sure that she’s safe wherever she goes.”
“Do not start crying,” Aaron warned me.
“Just take the appreciation and don’t be a dick.”
“Yes, dear,” he whispered, holding me as close as I was him.
Pulling free, I hit Dane’s chest hard before hugging him tight. “You made me your brother and changed my path—I can’t ever thank you enough for that.”
“Don’t be absurd,” he grumbled. “You’ve thanked me a million times through deed and word.”
“You mean the world to me.”
He clutched me close for longer than usual and then shoved me out to arm’s length just as Duncan came into the kitchen.
“Hey, we need more of the––oh,” he grunted as I bumped against him and leaned.
“Duncan, thank you for seeing the good that I always knew was in one of my oldest friends. You loving Aaron helped make his heart what it is today.”
“I…are you all right?”
“Because you love him, he loves and cares for my kids, and he gave my girl wings.”
Duncan wrapped me up and held me and bent and whispered in my ear, “It’s you and Sam and your kids who loved him first, Jory. Thank you.”
I had no idea when I started crying.
Dane had to take me to the kitchen, made me blow my nose on paper towels three hundred times and then splash my face with cold water. Once I was patted dry, he walked me outside to Aja and basically handed me off.
“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly. “You’re all blotchy.”
“I’m thankful that you’re my sister.”
And because she had no issue sharing her feelings, she started crying and grabbed me and said that she felt the same.
“You love Dane, which has allowed him to be his true, great self. I’m so thankful for you in my life and his.”
She nodded and cried, and then Dylan was there hugging us both.
“I’m so thankful that when I was scared at my brand-new job a million years ago, you were there,” I told Dylan. “Your friendship has been a blessing in my life.”
“I feel the same,” Dylan said, sniffling. “And because of you, I got Aja as well.”
“And I got Dylan,” Aja cried.
“You’ve been my work partner, and together we found Fallon.”
“We’ll tell him,” Dylan promised me.
“Oh no,” Chris muttered beside us. “Why’re you all crying?”
I grabbed his arm and yanked him down so he was crouching beside us. “You’ve been a friend through thick and thin, Chris, and I appreciate you more than you know.”
“I know you do, buddy,” he murmured, and when I looked at his face, I saw that his eyes were swimming. “And because of you, I got Sam and Dane and Aja and Aaron and Duncan, and you’ve all been there for me and Dyl with everything, and it means…so…much.”
I had to shift a bit so I could hug him, and then there were four of us embracing.
“Awwww, gratitude on Thanksgiving,” Hannah announced, adding herself to the rest of us so we were all squeezing tight.
“Jory, my darling.”
I lifted my head so I could see Regina.
“You loving my son has shown me even more of his heart, and given me my beautiful grandchildren, who I love dearly.”
I had to let the others go so I could go cuddle with her. Thomas joined us.
“You’ve been a blessing in our lives,” he assured me softly. “From the first time Sam brought you home, we knew everything would be different because of you.”
We were in a tight ball, and I heard Kola call for his father.
“What the hell, people?” Sam groused at us. “Thanksgiving is supposed to be happy.”
“It is,” I said, barely able to breathe.
“Yeah, I can tell,” he muttered.
Once his parents let me go, Sam eased me up and into his arms, clutching me tight to his heart as he always did. I could not speak around the lump in my throat.
“We need to start Pictionary,” Kola announced. “Everyone inside who’s playing.”
In moments, Sam and I were alone out on the patio with, once I looked around, not nearly as much food as I thought there was going to be.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’ve been feeling a bit sentimental all day.”
“It’s not sentimental,” he said, letting me go and then taking my face in his hands.
“It’s you being thankful for your blessings.
We all need to do that much more often. Not everyone can speak from their heart.
I’m lucky that you’ve always been able to.
I’m thankful for you every single day of my life. ”
“You know I feel exactly the same.”
He smiled before he kissed my forehead. “I do know. Never doubt it.”
Once we got inside, Kola gave me a big hug and told me that his grandparents were going home, they were pooped, so Sam and I needed to go hug them. After which, we should go join the game, and he and Jake, Robert and Gentry and Finn would make quick work of the clearing and the dishes.
I was impressed. The boys had the food moved from outside to the stove—in case we had more visitors—the dishwasher loaded and running, and the pies put out on the kitchen table and coffee made about thirty minutes later.
It didn’t hurt that Kola was meticulous and Robert had made a list on his phone and was checking things off.
He was my brother’s firstborn after all.
And Gentry, the showman, had a beautiful presentation going with everything laid out, a fan of forks, and stations where you could add things to your dessert that everyone enjoyed.
The boys also got to yell out answers to their respective teams.
I loved seeing Finn utterly amazed that his father could draw that fast, like he should have been teaching art somewhere.
Kola was on his team and guessed three in a row, one of which was the Great Wall of China.
Eammon walked from one of the two giant erase boards we had courtesy of Aaron, on easels, courtesy of Dane, over to Kola and hugged him.
Kola enjoyed that quite a bit, if the smile that lit his eyes was any indication.
Sam could not draw at all, but that didn’t matter; the odds were in his favor with the number of people there that at least one of his kids would be on his team.
It was Hannah, and she stood up, walked further back from his artwork, nearly to the kitchen, tilted her head to the left, and said, “It’s The Beatles. ”
“I’m sorry, what?” Dane asked her, utterly floored.
“It’s the Abbey Road album cover, right, Dad?”
Sam very smugly nodded.
“Come show me John, Paul, George, and Ringo right now,” Dylan demanded.
“Yes, now, what she said,” Dane insisted.
“I see it a little,” Aja chimed in kindly.
“Oh you do not,” Gentry scolded his mother.
“Of course she does,” Robert defended her, since he was on Sam’s team. “That’s a fantastic rendering, Uncle Sam.”
“Thank you,” he told him, leaning over to hug him. “You’re my favorite nephew.”
“Hey,” Gentry protested.
When Harper and Wick showed up, Sam called Harper over to him quickly, and both Kola and I called a foul on that.
“What’s the big deal?” Chris wanted to know.
I groaned.
“Harper, draw the Statue of Liberty.”
In a matter of seconds, Harper had the landmark drawn, in a very Schoolhouse Rock sort of way, so that it was more than recognizable.
“Oh, that’s not fair,” Wick muttered, gesturing at the board. “The hell is that? You never told me you could draw.”
“You never asked,” Harper made clear.
Sam cackled, which was terrible form.
“That’s not at all fair,” Dane insisted.