Much to be Thankful For
A/N: I know that Thanksgiving is next week, but I thought it would be a good idea to type this up now and get it out of the way before the holiday comes because it's always so hectic. I've had this story in my head for a while now, so it feels good to finally be able to post it and share it with all of you. I want to thank all of those who have read and reviewed my series so far. It means a lot to me that you like it. And I hope that you all have a good Thanksgiving if you celebrate it.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot, Willow Green, her mother, Cynthia Lee, and any other characters not associated with TMNT.
Summary: Willow dreads Thanksgiving, but she realizes that she has friends who care about her and that she has much to be thankful for.
Thanksgiving used to be a fun holiday for her. She would watch her mother cook the turkey and even help her with the sides that they had along with it. One year, her parents took her to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and that had been one of the best moments of her life. It had all been so simple then and they'd been so happy, too.
But after her dad started drinking it all changed. Holidays no longer mattered, and half the time he wasn't around for them and just she and her mother celebrated. It was lonely then, and Willow had hated it.
Now her dad was gone, and her mother was in a residency for Alzheimer's patients.
Willow woke up and began to get ready for her day. She turned on the TV and watched the parade as she did every year. When it was over, she turned off the TV and got ready to go see her mother, a ritual she had done ever since her mother had been put in the residency. It was hard every year, but Willow felt she owed it to her mother to do this.
She arrived at the residency and saw her mother in her room watching the National Dog Show. She smiled at her mother as she gushed at some of the cute dogs that were there.
"Faye, your daughter has come to see you," announced the nurse who had accompanied Willow here. It was protocol for nurses to accompany visitors because sometimes Alzheimer's patients could be very unpredictable.
Faye Green turned and smiled as she saw Willow in the doorway.
"Hi, Mom," said Willow. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"I've been waiting for a long time, dear," she said. "You seem like a nice young lady. Are you in college?"
Willow felt a pang in her heart. This usually happened with her mother, and it always hurt when her mom forgot who she was.
"Mom, it's Willow," she said. "I'm your daughter."
A look of recognition passed over Faye's face. "Oh, Willow. Yes, I remember you. My, how you've grown! Where's your father? Didn't he come with you?"
"Dad's dead, Mom," replied Willow. "He's been dead for years now."
"That can't be right. No, honey, you're confused. Your father's not dead. He's probably off with some woman and has forgotten all about us. You know how he always did that."
Willow wanted to correct her mother, but the nurse gave her a significant look, and Willow decided not to say anything. Instead, she put the pie she'd bought from the store on her mother's table. "Here's the pie I got for you, Mom. You always loved pumpkin pie."
Faye nodded. "Yes, what a nice person you are, dear. They don't make them like you anymore these days. Thank you."
'You're welcome, Mom. So how are things in here?"
"Ethel won at Bingo again," Faye complained. "I swear, that woman is cheating so she can win. I bet some of those gentleman are helping her. I saw Bert sitting right next to her and I could SWEAR he helped her cheat and switched some of her pieces around. You can't get anybody honest anymore." She shook her head sadly.
"Did you watch the parade?"
"Oh, yes, I love that parade. I took my daughter there once. We had such a good time. She's in college now though. I never thought my daughter would to go college, but she has. Such a smart girl."
Once again, Willow wanted to correct her, but the nurse gave her that look again, and she remained silent.
"I'm sure she's fantastic," she said softly.
"Yes, she is. How long are you here for, dear?"
"Just a few minutes and then I have to go home and cook," she answered. "I'm spending the holidays with friends."
"You don't have a boyfriend, dear?"
Willow shook her head. "No, I'm single, Mom."
"You should get a boyfriend. You're not getting any younger and good men are hard to come by. You should be blessing your mother with some grandchildren."
"I'm not exactly the motherly type," Willow told her.
"Nonsense, every woman is a born mother," Faye said. "What do you do for a living, dear?"
"I teach martial arts at a dojo," Willow answered. She remembered how proud her mother had been when Willow had given her the news.
"You were always a born fighter, and now you can teach others how to fight like you," she had said.
Now she looked alarmed. "Isn't that dangerous? You don't want to give kids ideas on how to kill each other."
"It's not like that, Mom," Willow reassured her. "The kids are perfectly safe and I always let them know that they can't do any moves outside of our classes."
"Well, if that's the case, then I guess it's all right. Where are you spending Thanksgiving again?"
"With friends," Willow answered.
"You don't have any family?"
Yes, she did, but her one family member didn't even remember her anymore.
"Just my mother, but she's in a home now," she answered, trying not to let the tears leak out of her eyes. She wished she could just shake her mother and force her to remember. Better yet, she wished she could just take her mother's brain and fix it so it worked again. Why did this have to happen to her?
Her mother ate some of the pie and continued to watch the dog show. Willow stayed just a bit more and decided it was time to go. She kissed her mother on the cheek and said that she loved her.
Her mother looked up at her and smiled. "You take care, dear," she said.
"I will," Willow promised.
The nurse led Willow out of the room. "I'm so sorry, dear. It's never easy to visit someone whose memory is going."
Willow gritted her teeth even though she wanted to grab the woman by the neck and shake her. She had no idea what it was like to deal with that. She strode out of the residency and headed back to her apartment. She wouldn't be eating with the Turtles until nightfall, so she plopped on her couch and watched a Cops marathon. At five the doorbell rang, and Willow knew it was Cynthia.
"Hey, Cyn, how was your visit with your sister?" Willow asked her.
"The same as usual," Cynthia replied. "Those kids of her are going to be the death of me one of these days. Of course, she had to rub it in that she's married and has kids while I'm still single and how it's such a shame that I won't be making her an aunt. I just wanted to hit her with the frying pan. How was your visit with your mom?"
"The same as always," answered Willow. "You know how it is. She remembers me for the first bit and then forgets me and thinks I'm a volunteer. I just don't know if I can do this anymore." She began to sob and let out the tears that had been pent up in her at the residency.
Cynthia put her arms around her friend and held her close. "I know," she soothed. "I know it can be hard." Her own mother had died of cancer, and it had been hard for her to deal with that. Willow had hung in with her and had been there as a loyal supporter which had been a great relief to Cynthia.
Willow sat back and wiped her eyes and nose. "I'm a mess, Cyn," she said. "What a Thanksgiving this had turned out to be."
"It's not over yet," Cynthia reminded her. "We still have dinner with the Turtles and the Mutanimals to look forward to."
"Yes, we do," Willow agreed. "I'm glad you decided to come with me, Cyn."
Cynthia smiled. "What are friends for?"
22222
Thanksgiving dinner was great. Mikey cooked the turkey and it actually turned out fine despite his brothers saying that it would probably burn. We passed plates to each other, and Splinter carved the turkey with a regular knife, even though Mikey suggested Leo use his katana to do the honors, which earned him a slap on the head from said brother.
I told them about my visit with my mom and Cyn talked about her visit with her sister. Mikey decided to liven things up with a burping contest (Slash won) and then wanted to play a game of Truth or Dare which Splinter vetoed on account of the fact that we were eating. Dessert was a fun time, too, though Mikey kept flicking bits of his pie at Raph until Raph threatened to pound him soundly with Slash's help.
"Hey, Raph, remember when you used to feed Slash bits of pie?" Mikey asked him.
"Yeah, I liked that," Slash said. "It was good for a small turtle like me."
"But Sensei told Raph it wasn't a good idea to feed you that stuff because it would make you sick," Leo reminded him.
"Well, I survived, so no harm done," Slash replied with a laugh.
"It is a tradition in our household to each go around the table and say what we are thankful for this year," Splinter said. "The guests will go first this year. Willow, what are you thankful for?"
I wasn't too happy about being put on the spot, but I knew I had to do this. "Well, I'm thankful for the Mutanimals for helping me during the invasion. I don't know what I would have done without you guys. I'm thankful that Cynthia also survived so I could spend the holiday with her. I'm thankful to have met you, Master Splinter, and your sons because you are valuable friends to me. I'm thankful that even though my mother doesn't recognize me, she is still alive and I'm still able to visit her whenever I want and to tell her what's going on in my life. I'm thankful for my students and for having a job where I can be happy about teaching others to defend themselves."
"That is very good, Willow," Splinter praised me. "Thank you."
Cynthia and the others took their turns, but I didn't listen to what they said. I was too immersed in thoughts of my mother and father and past holidays we spent together. How I wish I could turn back time and go back to the days when everything was happy with us!
"Willow, are you okay?" Leo asked me, concern filling his blue eyes.
I tried to say I was fine, but all that came out was a sob. Suddenly, I felt Leo's arms wrap around me and felt his hand rubbing my back.
"It's okay," he soothed. "It's okay. We're all here now."
Everyone else joined in the hug, too, and that made me feel better. I was being selfish by dwelling on the past. I had a good group of friends who were here with me, and I needed to focus on them and the times we were going to have together.
I wiped my eyes and my nose. "I'm sorry, everyone," I said. "It's just been a hard day for me."
"That's okay, Willow," Mikey said gently. "We totally get it."
It was true that they understood what it was like for me, and I was even more grateful for them than I ever had been. We parted ways with plans to spend Christmas together, too, and I promised to see them again the next day along with Cynthia since we didn't have to work. Cynthia and Leo both walked me home, and I felt better already.
"That was a good day," Cynthia commented. "I was sure Mikey was going to win that burping contest."
"Nah, Slash had it in the bag," I countered.
Leo smiled as he came through my window. "Hey, I was close to winning," he said.
"You have to work on it, Captain," I said. "Practice makes perfect, you know."
"Well, maybe for Christmas we can have a dance contest," he suggested.
"That would be perfect," I said.
"And you and I can be a team."
"I'd love to team up with you," I said.
He gave me a big hug. "Happy Thanksgiving, Willow," he whispered. "I'm so thankful we know you."
"That's my boy," I whispered back as I gave him a kiss on the cheek.
All in all, this Thanksgiving wasn't too bad, and I know it's because of my dear friends. Now instead of dreading the holidays, I vow to welcome them with open arms because I have friends to celebrate with and that's the most important thing in the world. Happy Thanksgiving!
Until next time,
Willow
A/N: And so ends this Thanksgiving one shot. I really hope all of you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I admit that I'm not one to really like holidays anymore, but I do my best to try and be happy despite the fact that my grandpa's sick and can't spend time with us anymore. I'm thankful that I have my family and my wonderful boyfriend to share my life with. And most of all, I'm thankful for all of my readers and fellow authors here at FF and at Stealthy Stories. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic Thanksgiving holiday if you celebrate it. And if you don't, then have a shelltastic day.