"Lois, it's time to wake up," Clark said with his hand on her shoulder.
Lois groaned and pulled the blankets over her head.
"Come on, Lois. It's Thanksgiving. Remember? You told me to get you up at 8:30 a.m., no matter what."
"Go away. We don't have to go to work today," she mumbled.
"If you don't get up now, I'll be forced to use violent measures that could involve anything from water to tickling."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, wouldn't I?"
She didn't answer, but she sat up.
"That's cheating," he said. "You have to actually get out of bed to be considered up."
She growled but headed into the bathroom to get ready. When she came out, she still didn't look cheerful but at least she wasn't growling.
"I made you some coffee, honey," he told her.
She stalked off to the kitchen. He imagined her drinking her coffee, then gave it 5 more minutes. He wanted to make sure the caffeine was flowing through her system. Lois was too grouchy for human interaction until then. He got up and went into the kitchen. She smiled at him.
"You're supposed to start dinner preparations early, aren't you?" she asked.
"You're the one who wanted to try making dinner, not me," he said, retreating out of the soon to be danger zone.
She pulled the turkey out of the freezer. She read the instructions out loud. "Thaw turkey in warm water the night before. Now they tell me. I don't suppose it matters that much." She took the turkey out of its wrapper with a pair of scissors and stuck it in a pan. The instructions said on 325 degrees for 4 hours but considering that it was frozen and that she wanted to eat sometime this century, she turned it up extra high. She could finish the other stuff after the parade went off. Clark already had the TV on. She bounced down beside him. "What do you think you're watching?" she asked.
"Well, I thought I was watching football."
"Think again. It's a holiday requirement that you have to watch the Macy's Day Parade on Thanksgiving."
"Forgive me. I wasn't aware of that," he said with a smile. He flipped it onto the parade.
"We saw that Broadway play," Lois said.
"I remember. You know, we could see the parade in person."
"Are you insane? You think I want to freeze my rear end off and get crushed with a million other people? I prefer to watch it from the comfort of my own living room and we can't leave the turkey by itself."
"You're probably right. We'd come back to find your cooking had turned it into a mutant monster and completely destroyed our apartment."
She slapped his leg but not too hard. She didn't want to hurt herself.
He laughed. "You never did tell me what all you were fixing."
"With that earlier remark, I shouldn't, but I'm a nice person. We're having turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, and stuffing separate from the turkey."
"Why didn't you put it in the turkey?"
"I wasn't sticking my hand up a turkey's behind and using turkey guts to flavor the stuffing."
"Gee, you make it sound so appetizing. What about dessert?"
"You can choose between pumpkin or pecan pie."
"Just how do you plan on making all this?" Clark asked with a worried look.
"It's merely a matter of heating it up. Have a little faith in my cooking abilities."
"It's not too late to go to my mom's."
"We made a decision that we're going to spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, alone. Besides, your mom has enough people to cook for. There's the two foster children she took in, Lionel, and by the way, I'm glad they decided to only be friends, Uncle Gabe, and Mrs. Harrison, the elderly widow neighbor. That's 6 people there. The table is only so big."
"If you're sure."
"I'm sure. Now shut up, so I can hear the Charlie Brown balloon go by."
"How can you hear it?"
"They give balloon statistics, now hush."
They watched it in silence for a while.
"Maybe I should go ahead and fix the sweet potatoes," she said. "It doesn't have to be very warm."
"If you want to."
"Holler, if Santa comes."
"I could fly you to the North Pole if you miss him."
"You're hilarious. I mean it, Smallville. I better see the end."
"I'm watching. I won't let you miss him."
Clark watched celebrities waving and floats going by. He began to smell burnt sweet potatoes, not that it surprised him. She came back in.
"How is it going?"
"Shut up. You know darn well how it's going."
They watched Santa Claus come, heralding the start of the Christmas season. Then she changed it to football.
"I have to finish making everything. Then we're going to watch It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th street."
"Why?"
"Miracle on 34th street has the Macy's Day parade in it. You have to watch it on Thanksgiving. I watch It's a Wonderful Life from force of habit because NBC always put it on after the parade. Now they show a stupid annual dog show. That's a great holiday tradition, watching a bunch of pure-breed mutts parade around."
"What do you have against dogs?"
"They make me sick, figuratively and physically."
Suddenly the smoke alarm went off.
Clark sped into the kitchen and used his breath to once again freeze the now flaming turkey.
Lois sighed and said, "I'm ready to go when you are."
"Don't worry. I told Mom weeks ago, we'd be there. She fixed enough."
sss
When they got there, they found 3 more unexpected guests: Chloe, Bruce, and Alfred. It seemed Lois hadn't been the only one to burn a turkey. That made a total of 11 guests, but there was enough room and food for everyone.
The turkey had been taken out and was cooling off on the stove. Alfred and Lois, the turkey burners, knew how precious this light brown, gleaming bird was and stood guarding it until it was ready to be carved. Shelby came into the kitchen and sat down, silently watching the turkey and wagging his tail.
Lois, sneezing from his presence and seeing him, said, "This is my last chance for a turkey on Thanksgiving, dog. You so much as sniff in this direction and you'll be sorry I didn't leave you on the road."
Shelby obediently lay down.
"That is a little harsh, Miss Lane."
"I'm not going to a Chinese restaurant where I have to eat a duck with a head and have people sing Fa Ra Ra, all because a dog ate my turkey."
"Excuse me?"
"You need to watch more TV, Alfred."
"Where is your father and sister?"
"The General would rather spend Thanksgiving with soldiers than family and Lucy is spending Thanksgiving with her boyfriend."
"I'm sorry, Miss Lane."
"Don't be. I'm spending Thanksgiving with my family."
Clark came in and carried the turkey to the table. Everyone gathered around the main table and the folding table that had been set up.
"Would you like to say the blessing, Clark," Martha asked, "since you've also been bestowed the honor of carving?"
"Sure, Mom."
Everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes.
"Lord, we thank you for the wonderful meal we are about to receive and for the people we have to share it with and for those who were unable to be here. Help us remember to be thankful all year round and not just on this holiday. In Your name we pray, Amen."
"Amen," everyone chorused and then there was a flurry of hands, reaching for the food they had been deprived of all day.
Clark grinned when he saw Lois secretly slip Shelby a piece of turkey. She loved the old dog more than she cared to let on. Shelby knew it too. That's why he always followed her around.
sss
Clark and Lois were back in their apartment that night, snuggling on the couch.
"It was a nice Thanksgiving, wasn't it?" Lois asked.
"Yeah. We managed to blend our family traditions. You got to watch your movies and I got to name the turkey, Tarzan, before he burned."
"I don't get why you name it. It's food, not a pet."
"It's fun and you have to think of a new name every year that starts with a T. So far, it's been called everything from Tom and Tim to Tinman and Tick Tock."
"You're a strange one, Mr. Kent."
"Not strange enough to be thankful for, I hope."
"Nope, not that strange. I love you."
"I love you, too, Mrs. Kent, and I am extremely thankful for you."
"I can't believe your mom gave us so much leftover turkey. We're going to be eating turkey sandwiches and soup for the rest of our lives."
"Speaking of turkey, do you want some now?"
"Clark, I pigged out today as it is. I always tell myself I won't eat until I can't move, but it seems to be an unavoidable part of the holiday tradition."
"So do you want some?"
"Yes."
The End
Happy Thanksgiving!