I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and to my fellow Americans, have a happy early Independence Day! I couldn't write a chapter to celebrate the 4th of July, so I wrote about another American holiday instead!
November 24th:
"Chris, everyone is going to be here soon!" Chris looked at Ashley as she rummaged around the apartment. She was looking for a decent serving dish for the mashed potatoes. Happy Thanksgiving! Chris had been straightening up their apartment while Ashley worked on the meal. She was a pro at preparing Thanksgiving when she was with her family, she had grown up helping prepare dinner in her grandmother's kitchen, but she had never done it on her own. She was stressed out was an understatement. She had decided to skip the ham this year, partly because she didn't like ham, but also because she didn't have the oven space. She decided sticking with turkey would be best. She had made all sorts of pies yesterday: chocolate, pecan, pumpkin and coconut. She had been waiting for Thanksgiving since they moved in.
While Chris was happy to see his fiancé so excited about a holiday, he was also incredibly stressed out. Ashley was making herself sick from all the running around she was doing. She had been cooking for two days straight, and when she wasn't cooking she was deep cleaning the apartment. Chris told her he would clean, but Ashley told him to not worry about it and just focus on his classwork. It was like his sole job around the house was to do things for school. Ashley had told him it was because, no matter what else happened, he was going to graduate, Cum Laude, like he had planned, or at least Magna Cum Laude. Because of this insistence to do everything herself, the straightening up Chris was doing was literally that. He was rearranging the pillows on the couch for the seventh time. It kind of hurt that she didn't trust him with any of the Thanksgiving preparations. "Ashley," he walked over to the kitchen but didn't dare go in because he had already been yelled at for taking up space, "are you sure you don't need me to help with anything?"
She looked around, hanging her head in a sort of defeat. "Can you go set the table?"
Chris nodded. He could most certainly do that. He walked by Ashley and grabbed plates and silverware, making sure to get seven of everything. He was excited to have everyone over. The gang had been coming as often as they could, the girls coming over to help Ashley with wedding planning, because Jessica insisted they didn't need a wedding planner -she was becoming certified to become a wedding planner apparently,- and the guys came over to hang out, occasionally talk about the wedding, but mostly to just relax like the old days. Sometimes it was easy to forget everything that happened last year (had it really been over a year?) but there was also a nagging in the back of his mind, telling him that Josh wasn't here. Josh would never be here. He was somewhere on Blackwood. He had to push those thoughts away. He had a new life now. He and Ashley were going to get married. They were going to have their own family.
Chris stepped out of his thoughts as he finished setting the table. He let himself be impressed. He did a pretty damn good job. "Ashley," he walked over to her, "do you need help with anything else?" The image he got was her vomiting into the sink. He felt terrible for her. This was Thanksgiving, a holiday about food and eating, and she wasn't sure if she'd even be able to get anything down. He walked behind her and rubbed small circles into her back. "Hey, nugget," he tried to lighten the situation, "give your mom a break today, huh?"
He smiled as Ashley turned towards him after throwing up whatever she had in her stomach. "Did you just call our baby a nugget?"
Chris smiled, puckering his lips and crossing his arms, creating one of his signature goofy faces. "Yeah. What if I did?"
Ashley hit his arm. "You are such a dork!" She turned her attention to the food around her. "Can you take the food to the table? I'll start getting everyone drinks."
Chris did as he was told, taking the turkey to the table. Ashley had started pouring wine into glasses, not really caring that Matt and Jess were both technically under the drinking age. They had bought Two bottles of red wine, but they really had no idea what they were getting. It was an inexpensive grocery store Pinto Noir. Ashley had gotten herself sparkling grape juice to drink so she could at least pretend she was having something fancy.
Their table setting was perfect timing. Chris had just finished placing the last plate on the table when there was a knock on the door. Ashley went to answer it. Chris thought to himself how great she looked. She was still able to fit into her skinny jeans, which she complimented with a cream colored sweater and brown knee high boots. In front of the door stood Matt, awkwardly holding an bouquet of orange flowers. "I assumed I should bring something, but I didn't know what, so I just got these for you, Ash."
She loved them. Chris could tell by the way her face lit up. Ashley had all sorts of plants throughout the apartment: hanging cacti, potted orchids, a small herb garden in the kitchen. Chris knew she would display the flowers very prominently.
Everyone trickled in after that. Jess and Mike arriving together, Sam and Emily arriving separately, but getting to the door at the same time. Everyone commented on how good it all smelled, and how everything would be different next year. They dug into the food, everyone taking generous helpings of turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans. Ashley had even given Louis his own plate of food, though she only put turkey on it. Good spirits were all over the place. Chris knew that none of them were related by blood, but they were still a family. The Washington's had brought them together. Josh, Hannah and Beth. It seemed wrong that they weren't here, so Chris raised his glass in a toast, giving thanks to their friends who were unable to be with them. It was because of them that this was possible. He knew, somehow, it was of them that he and Ashley got to live this life together.
Again, Happy 4th!