Chapter 21
Friendsgiving was officially underway.
A timer buzzed on the stove sending Donna on a frantic search for an oven mitt. Down the counter, Becca and Megan debated whether the rolls should go on a plate or into a large bowl. One claimed better aesthetics and the other argued the bowl would keep them warm longer.
I was team bowl, but chose to stay out of the fray.
Off in her own world, Josie was documenting the decorations and side dishes on her phone from every possible angle.
“What are you doing?” I asked, curious why she needed seven pictures of a green bean casserole.
“This is our first Friendsgiving in Donna’s new house. She’s going to want pictures.”
There were more important memories to record than a casserole, but who was I to argue?
“Since you guys have everything under control in here I’m going to join the guys.”
The guys were watching football, which I would normally avoid, but I’d recently changed my mind on that. Slightly. Trey convinced me to watch a game with him on Monday night, and I was so exhausted from the play weekend that I’d been too tired to put up a fight.
To my surprise, I didn’t hate it. Sitting next to Trey and playing on my phone as the announcers droned on, the game was actually tolerable. Though anything was tolerable so long as Trey was around.
The sappy thought made me roll my eyes as I strolled into the living room. One week together and the man had turned me into a lovesick twit already. Though there were worse things for a girl to be, I supposed.
“Dang,” mumbled Miles as I crossed the living room to join Trey.
“You have to get rid of the ball,” Ryan informed the man on the television peeling himself up off the ground. “Your receiver was wide open.”
“He’d have been covered by the time the ball got there,” Jacob countered, bouncing Noah on one knee.
“Doesn’t mean you take a sack,” said Calvin.
I slid in between Trey and the arm of the couch, expecting him to give his professional opinion on the subject, but he just smiled and put his arm around me.
“Hey there,” he said. “Did they kick you out already?”
“They didn’t kick me out. I wandered off on my own.”
When Trey heard that we needed to contribute something to today’s meal and that I was planning to pick up cupcakes from the grocery store, he insisted that we make a real dish. From scratch. I explained that pigs would fly before that happened, but that if he wanted the sister who cooked, I would introduce him to Janet.
Her husband might put up a fight, but Pete was a pretty open-minded guy. He also loved football. They could be a throuple made in heaven.
Thankfully, he didn’t take me up on the offer. Not fully. We did call Janet for Babka Maja’s potato pancakes recipe, which Trey mistakenly thought we would tackle together . After I sliced off the top of my finger while grating the potatoes, he accepted his fate and made them on his own. I got to watch, and what a show it was.
Turned out a hunky bald man in an apron was way sexier than I knew.
The other three men exploded in various expletives as Ryan leapt off the couch to pace around the coffee table. Hands in his hair, he muttered, “What the hell, dude?”
Voice low so as not to disturb the angry wildlife, I said, “Why aren’t you as upset as they are?”
“Because the Steelers aren’t my team,” Trey whispered back.
“Oh, that’s right. You like Philadelphia, huh?”
“Yep.”
I squinted at the TV and saw no black and gold. “Are the Steelers playing?”
“Not today.”
Now he’d thoroughly confused me. “Then what are they upset about?”
He pointed toward the screen as the teams lined up facing each other. “That team needs to beat that team for the Steelers to maintain their playoff berth.”
He could have said roses need to eat Buicks to have babies and it would have made as much sense. “That sounds like total nonsense.”
“Do you really want me to explain?” The man knew me already.
“I do not.”
“Dinner is ready,” announced Donna from the doorway to the kitchen. “Come and eat.”
Jacob swung Noah onto his shoulder and headed for the kitchen with Miles behind him. Trey rose first, then pulled me up, and as had become his habit, he kissed my forehead before tucking me under his arm as we walked together. Ryan and Calvin lingered in front of the TV until Donna snapped her fingers.
“Let’s go, gentlemen. The game will go on without you.”
Contrary to how it seemed, this was not a women do the cooking and the cavemen only come in to eat situation. Calvin made the stuffing the night before, as well as providing high-end wine from Hickamore House. Jacob made his mom’s kimchi fried rice to add some culture to the meal, and Ryan didn’t get his hands dirty, but he did pick up three pies from The Pie Place, which made all in attendance a little more grateful.
I skipped breakfast so was more than ready to eat. Because we all had family gatherings later in the day, Donna’s shindig was more of a Friendsgiving lunch. None of us minded the early start time as we all recognized that there was something special in the air this year.
Somehow, in a relatively short period of time, we’d all found our happily ever after. Too soon for me and Trey to know that for sure, of course, but I already couldn’t imagine my life without him. He made me smile so much my cheeks ached at the end of the day, and when he wasn’t around all I could think about was when I’d see him again.
Ironically, his house wasn’t far from my apartment. A fact I learned only a week ago when we’d all gathered after the play. He, too, could have walked to the restaurant that night, but kept that little factoid to himself until I called him on it. He said he wanted the excuse to both pick me up and walk me home.
He looked so cute when he made the confession that I couldn’t even be mad about it.
Food was passed back and forth, across and around, the table as we all filled our plates. Becca plopped this amazing silicon baby bowl down on Noah’s high chair tray, which stuck in place as if she’d glued it down. Then she loaded the little sections with mashed potatoes, peas, and a few green beans from the casserole.
Within minutes the child was wearing most of it.
Once everyone had what they wanted, Calvin said, “Who’s going to start?”
We offered a collective stare of confusion.
“Start what?” Donna asked.
“Saying what we’re grateful for.”
Oh. He was one of those.
Again, he was met with silence. Except for Noah, who was shoving peas into his mouth between fits of glee.
“Come on, it’s Thanksgiving,” he said, as if we had no idea why we’d gathered for this meal. “It’s tradition.”
Mom tried getting us kids to do this once when we were little. Janet was grateful for Sal DelMonti being assigned the seat beside her in her fourth grade class, five-year-old Frankie gave thanks that the marble he got stuck the week before came back out of his nose, and I thanked God for giving Joe pimples. Yes, I was a horrible child.
After that, she never made us share our thoughts again. On anything.
“I’ll do it,” Ryan said, drawing all eyes his way. “I’m grateful that I found the most amazing woman in the world, and that she agreed to marry me.”
Megan blushed as Jacob went next. “I echo that and add my thanks for our little one. I wasn’t sure I’d ever have a whole family again, so I’m really grateful how my life has turned out.”
Were they trying to make me cry?
Jacob leaned over to kiss Noah’s head before mouthing an I love you to his wife on the other side of the high chair.
“My turn then,” said Miles. “I’m grateful to be here. After a lot of Thanksgivings eating ramen on my couch, this is nice.”
“Enjoy it,” Josie said. “Because dinner with my family won’t be nearly this relaxed.”
“I know.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “But don’t worry. Someday your mom will like you as much as she likes me.”
Josie rolled her eyes. “That will never happen.”
We all laughed before Becca said, “I’m grateful for all of you.” She teared up, which triggered tears for the rest of us.
“Dang it, woman,” Josie said, chin up and blinking at the ceiling. “Don’t make me cry.”
Donna hurried to the counter to grab a box of tissues, then passed it around the table. Even Calvin took one.
“When I moved here during the summer,” Trey said, clasping my hand under the table, “I wasn’t sure how things would turn out. I definitely didn’t expect to be celebrating the holiday with all of you. Thanks for making me feel welcome.” Turning my way, he added, “And thank you for changing your mind about dating.”
The girls laughed, which was the perfect antidote to the tears.
“I wouldn’t have changed my mind for anyone else,” I said in a moment of honesty. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
As Trey leaned in for a quick peck on the lips, Calvin raised his glass. “To friends becoming family. And to many more holidays like this one.”
A collective hear hear filled the room as glasses clinked together, and baby Noah squealed along, clueless what we were celebrating but understanding the joy surrounding him. Calvin was right. We had become a family. All of us. And Donna was right too. Sometimes a person came along who made you happier than you ever thought possible.
Trey was that person for me.
With a sigh, I squeezed his hand and whispered, “Thank you for choosing me.”
His smile lit up his eyes. “Thank you for choosing me back.”
The meal went on with lots of laughs, a few more tears of gratitude, and way too much pie before we all dispersed to our next gatherings. As expected, my family adored Trey from the moment they met him. Even Joe and Gloria were nicer than usual. The nieces and nephews acted as if I’d brought a celebrity home, but I was getting used to that.
Trey Collins had that kind of charisma, but he was also down to earth and completely unaffected by the adoration he received. What amazed me most was his ability to make me feel taken care of without it seeming as if I needed to be taken care of. If that made any sense.
Most of all, he never made me doubt that I was enough, and I never had to apologize for who I was. In a million years, I would not have believed that such a man existed, but for once in my life, I was happy to be proven wrong. I had a loving family, the best friends a girl could find, and the perfect man for me.
Who could ask for anything more?