Chapter One: A Season for Sharing?

Thanksgiving was nearing, and Joey was planning a big dinner party, as usual. Craig was caught up in the hustle and bustle this time, since Joey had told him that he could invite whomever he wanted to the dinner.

Normally, this would have been great news to Craig, since he'd wanted to show Ashley what the holidays were like in his house. Obviously, Joey thought he'd be inviting her to the dinner.

But this year had gone differently than he wanted it to. Now there was Manny too. And he liked her almost as much as he liked Ashley, but in a different way.

For now, Craig was stretched out on the couch in the garage, strumming random chords and thinking of how it used to be, when his mom was alive. She always loved the holidays, and she would cook huge meals on Thanksgiving, just for the fun of having people over to share it with. She had a huge heart, and Craig missed her terribly. He wiped a tear away, before anyone could come in and see him crying.

There was a knock on the door. Craig made sure his face was tear-free before he opened the door. In bounced a gorgeous girl with dark hair and a pink sweater. It was Manny.

"Hi, Craig, I was hoping you'd be out here!" she said brightly, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek.

"Oh, hi Manny," Craig replied, hesitantly returning her hug.

"Craig, I just dropped by for a second, to invite you to our Thanksgiving dinner!" Manny flashed him her cute smile, and Craig found he could hardly say no.

"Thanks, Manny, but...um...we're having a dinner party here on Thanksgiving, and Joey said...um...well, he said I could invite whomever I wanted, so..." Craig faltered.

"...So you're inviting me?" Manny finished for him.

"Yeah," Craig smiled sheepishly.

Manny enveloped him in another big hug, and this time Craig returned it more readily. "Oh Craig, that's so sweet! I really want you to come to mine, though too." Manny's forehead wrinkled cutely as she thought for a second. Then her eyes shone as the idea came to her. "Why don't we do both? You can come over to my house, and then I'll come back here with you for the other half!"

Craig thought a second, "Yeah, I guess that would work."

"Great!" Manny grinned at him. "I'm going to go to a practice, so I'll see you later." She blew him a kiss as she left.

Craig closed the door, wondering what kind of practice she was headed to. Well, choosing one of them had been easier than he'd thought it would be.

He went back to the couch with his guitar, and strummed the same three chords over and over, as he thought of the women in his life.

Ashley reminded him of his mother. So warm and caring...and beautiful. Ash really loved her friends, and she was always doing little things for everyone. Craig knew his mom would have loved Ashley.

But Manny was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Manny Santos was every guy's dream. She was exciting, and she cared about him a lot too, Craig was sure of it. She practically threw herself at him every time they encountered each other in the hallway.

As these thoughts were ringing through his head, the garage door opened slowly. "Craig?" called a voice, tentatively. A dark head peeked around the door, and a pair of blue eyes heavily ringed with black eyeliner sought Craig's brown ones.

Craig jumped up from the couch, and laid his guitar down on it. "Ashley! Hi! Um...what are you doing here?"

Ashley gave him a strange look as she closed the door. "No one answered the door, so I followed the guitar strumming...what were you playing anyway? It sounded good."

Craig grinned, "Oh I was just messing around. Just some chords."

Ashley came to the couch and moved his guitar aside so she could sit. "You should really try to put something to those chords then, they were great! What were they, a C, F and G?"

Craig nodded, "Yeah, I think so." He was always amazed at how much Ashley knew about music. That was one of the reasons why he liked her so much.

Ashley smiled and wrote it down on a little scrap of paper she had in her pocket. "I'll work on that then." She stuffed it back into her pocket. "I can't stay long though, I just came to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year."

Craig's face fell. "Oh...that's great, thanks."

Ashley gave him another strange look. "Well, don't be so excited about it. I just thought you might not be doing much this year, what with it just the three of you. Toby's dad wants us to have a nice, big dinner this year, to celebrate our new family." She looked a little hurt.

Craig realized he must have shown his disappointment in his face, and was quick to think up an explanation, "Oh no! Ash, that's not it. It's just that...well...we're having a big thing too, and I was wanting to invite you to our dinner."

"Wow, really?" Ashley looked pleased. "Well, I don't see why we can't just do both, do you?"

Craig looked startled. "Both?"

"Of course, silly," Ashley lightly punched him in the arm. "We can eat a little bit at my house, and then come back here to your place." She stood up and wrapped her coat around her once more. "I have to go. This won't be so hard now, will it?" She winked at him and left.

Craig shook his head, and wondered just that.