Chapter three is up! Happy holidays everyone!
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Dana and Trip
If someone had asked Dana what she thought about spending Thanksgiving without Vince a year ago, she would have laughed at them. Vince had been shunted into the reserves after his last mission, and the military had never (prior to his untimely death) expressed any interest in reactivating him. He had always been home for Thanksgiving, or available via a webcam pilfered from one of his barracks-mates.
This year, though, she was caught up between her guilt over having fun without him, and Trip's betrayed looks. Travis, upon learning that Dana and Trip would most likely be eating Chinese take-out for their first Thanksgiving without Vince, had invited them over.
She had been pleasantly surprised by the invitation. Travis hadn't really been much more than her boss prior to this, but it was a nice gesture all the same. Trip, despite their altercation a month ago, seemed to be warming up to the man as well. (Her son's primary source of betrayal was the fact that he wasn't going to be hearing anything from the Cape—his imaginary friend that was, quite frankly, beginning to worry Dana—until Black Friday. Dana assured her son that his friend was probably spending Thanksgiving his with his family.)
"Hey Dana!"
Dana looked up as someone called her name. It was Travis's younger sister, bearing two glasses of cranberry juice. The young woman was heavily pregnant, and very cheerful.
"Hey Elise," Dana said, accepting the glass from her. The cranberry juice was exceptionally tart, but cold and it took her mind off of Trip's current melancholy. She sighed internally, seeing her son staring out one of the windows in the living room, completely ignoring Elise's four other children who were trying to convince him to play Monopoly.
"Don't worry," Elise said, seeing where Dana was looking. "He'll be okay eventually. It takes a different amount of time for everyone." She smiled, drawing a weak chuckle from Dana. Elise hooked her arm through Dana's and guided the older woman to the dining room, which had been decorated in a very definite fall theme.
"Thanks, Elise," Dana said, smiling weakly. The pregnant woman grinned back and refilled their glasses from the pitcher on the sideboard nearest to them.
"No problem."
Dana smiled, her guilt slowly disappearing. Through the arch that separated the den from the dining room, she saw Trip finally join Elise's kids at the coffee table where the game had been set up. Within minutes, he was smiling and cracking jokes with them like he had with his friends almost a year before. Dana had a feeling that this was going to go a long way to her son's recovery, and that was good.
"Dinner!" Mrs. Hall, Travis's elderly mother called from the kitchen, startling everyone. There was a general stampede from all over the cavernous house to reach the dining room.
Travis leaned over to Dana after they had sat down. "Happy Thanksgiving, Dana," he whispered quietly.
Dana smiled back, feeling better than she had in months.
Outside the window, a snowflake fell to the ground.
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So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Should Dana have turned down Travis's invitation?
