"Only you and Georgie would know the first menu," Mack said, smiling at his daughter and her date.
Spinelli exchanged glances with Georgie, then smiled back at her adopted father. He was glad he'd been able to please the Faithful Friend with his Thanksgiving gift of corn soup and maple sugar candy. Her smile and exclamations had made his day.
During dinner, Spinelli didn't think of the Blonde One more than once or twice. He felt only slightly guilty, considering the fact that Lulu had most likely had dinner with the Knuckle Scraper. As painful as that was, it couldn't overshadow the fact that Spinelli was feeling happier and more relaxed here, with Georgie, Dr. Robin and Commissioner Scorpio than he had felt in months, ever since the day Maxie had happily told him that the Blonde One and the Unworthy One had slept together.
As Mack went into the kitchen to get the pie, the phone rang and Maxie ran to answer it. Spinelli saw her expression change and began to worry. Maxie was never truly happy, unless she was hurting someone, and even then Spinelli had his doubts. But now her expression turned angry and resentful.
"Georgie," she said in a bitter tone, "it's Mom."
"Excuse me," Georgie said to Spinelli. "I'll be right back."
Spinelli nodded, still watching Maxie. The Bad Blonde One had told him once that her mother had walked out of her life, but Georgie had said she'd gone to take care of their sick grandmother. Part of him felt sorry for Maxie. Yes, she had been through a lot, but she had also caused a lot of her own problems. He wondered if the girl could ever feel grateful for anything in her life instead of concentrating on everything she didn't have. Today was a day for giving thanks, not for causing trouble, and he could only hope she would not make Georgie feel bad for talking to their absent mother.
He glanced around the table and saw Coop also watching Maxie. He knew she and Coop had been having problems, also caused by Maxie. She had slept with Coop's friend, after all, and the only reason she had done it was to break Lulu's heart. Spinelli would never forgive Maxie for what she and Logan had done to the Blonde One. Coop apparently had, and Spinelli hoped the Clean Cut Cadet's heart would not be broken again. Coop didn't deserve to be hurt anymore than Fair Lulu did.
Maxie came back to the table and sat next to Coop with a sour expression.
"Why is she even bothering to call?" she asked no one in particular as Mack brought the pie out of the kitchen. "It's not like she cares."
"Enough," Mack said angrily. He didn't raise his voice, but there was no mistaking the "I'm not putting up with this today" tone. "Felicia does care and she'll be home as soon as she can."
"Yeah, right," Maxie said, just loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.
"Maxie, give it a rest," Robin said quietly. "Can we please have just one day without you causing trouble and making people feel bad?"
"She's right," Coop said. "Be thankful you have people to spend Thanksgiving with and be grateful that your mom does care enough to call, and she does care, whether you wanna admit it or not."
"Dad," Georgie said, "Mom wants to talk to you."
After handing the phone to Mack, she headed back to the table, smiling. Maxie looked at Spinelli, who pulled Georgie's chair out for her.
"Well," Maxie asked him challengingly, "doesn't the Jackal have anything to say about the behavior of the Bad Blonde One?"
Spinelli shook his head.
"I think your family, and the Clean Cut Cadet, have said all that needs to be said."
Georgie thanked Spinelli for holding her chair for her, smiling at him. Then she glared at her mouthy big sister.
"Drop it, Maxie. You said Mom didn't care enough to call, but she called; you were wrong. Just deal with it and get over yourself. This conversation is over."
She turned back to Spinelli and asked him about Jason's plans for Thanksgiving.
"Stone Cold hasn't been home much," Spinelli said, trying not to bring poor Emily's death into the conversation. He didn't want to dampen everyone's mood any further than Maxie already had. "I haven't seen him since he left Wyndemere. His bike is gone, so he's probably riding; he does that when he gets upset."
"How can you tell when he's upset?" Maxie asked. "He never shows any feeling."
"Maxie!" Georgie said angrily.
"You have to know him," Robin said smoothly.
"He doesn't always express his feelings," Spinelli said to Maxie, keeping his tone conversational, determined not to show that she'd annoyed him," but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel them. He feels as deeply as anyone."
"Spinelli and I know Jason, Maxie," Robin said angrily. "You don't know the first thing about him, so why don't you just keep your mouth shut?"
Maxie opened her mouth to make an angry reply, but before she could speak, Coop shoved a fork full of pie into her mouth. Everyone grinned at her surprised expression.
"I'm sorry about her," Georgie whispered to Spinelli. "I wish we could just have one day without-"
"Don't worry about it, Faithful Friend," he whispered back. "You can't stop Maxie from saying what she wants to say, whether it's true or not. No one can force her to be nice."
"What are you two whispering about?" Mack asked. There was a teasing tone in his voice and a mischievous grin on his face. "Hey, Spinelli, are you whispering sweet nothings in my daughter's ear?"
Spinelli blushed.
"Dad!" Georgie said, wanting to hide her face. She was sure she was as red as Spinelli.
But that comment broke the tension and the conversation turned to other things. The rest of the dinner went smoothly. Maxie was quiet, letting the others do most of the talking, and Spinelli felt comfortable being able to talk to everyone without worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing. He followed the advice Stone Cold had given him just before the ball; "just do what everybody else does."
The fact that only Maxie gave him strange looks and made the occasional sarcastic comment made Spinelli feel good. Maxie's attitude counted for very little, since she was hardly ever nice to anyone. Commissioner Scorpio seemed to like him and Spinelli was glad. It was never good to have your friend's parents dislike you. Dr. Robin obviously liked him, otherwise she would not have asked him to be the sperm donor for her child. He still felt guilty that he had not been able to comply; he had wanted to, but Stone Cold had been right. Spinelli was not the type to father a child and then have nothing to do with him or her. Coop was always nice to Spinelli, but today he had seemed to take a genuine interest in what the Jackal had to say. Overall, this had been the best day Spinelli had spent with anyone in ages. The only thing that would have made it better would have been having Stone Cold and the Blonde One there, too.
