Hey everyone! Hope y'all have been having a great Spring Break (if you had yours this week like mine was!) I spent a good bit of mine studying and working on a paper, but I made sure to make time for posting this latest chapter. Please enjoy the Thanksgiving chapter of "Courtship", and I'll see you at the bottom.
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Thanksgiving day dawned bright and clear. There was a little snow on the ground outside the Bennett house (a side effect of Jack's coming in after a late night of brining winter to the Northern hemisphere.) Fredrick and Carol had arrived the night before, and had been put up in Jack's room (he didn't really use it except during the day, and the amount of attention that he was getting from his new Aunt was enough to keep him from voicing any complaints if he had any.) As usual on this holiday, Mrs. Bennett was up before down beginning the preparations for the feast. It was sure to be a holiday to remember.
Jack, the next to be up, stumbled in from the living room around 9:00 (he hardly ever needed sleep, but whenever he actually took advantage of the fact that he now had a place to crash, he was about as hard to wake up as a normal teenager.) He looked surprised to see her up to her elbows in stuffing. "Uh…g'morning?" he said, not sure of what to make of the scene.
"Oh, good morning Jack!" she replied cheerfully, and then gestured to the counter next to the refrigerator with a mixing spoon. "There's fresh pumpkin muffins for breakfast if you're hungry."
"Thanks." He wandered over and helped himself to one, turning back to watch her as he slowly started eating it, obviously savoring the privilege of getting to eat after a good three hundred years without doing so. "So…I gotta ask, do you always do this?"
"Get started on the cooking this early?" Mrs. Bennett laughed. "Actually, if anything I started late this year."
Jack couldn't help but smile at that. "You really go all out for the holidays, don't you?" he asked with amusement.
"Oh yes," Mrs. Bennett agreed, not sounding at all offended. "But you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait 'til your Aunt Carol gets up. As a pastor's wife, she'd used to overseeing celebrations for the whole church, so she really gets into the spirit of things! Even Fred loosens up a little bit for special occasions."
"It's good to know that my sister's descendants turned out so well," he said ruefully, taking another bite of his muffin. "Do you need any help with that?" he finally thought to offer.
"Oh no," Mrs. Bennett responded. "Thank you for offering, but I've got my special method for doing this. But you can answer one question for me?"
"Sure, what's up?" Jack asked, glad to be of some use.
"Do you think it's okay to serve turkey?" Mrs. Bennett looked over at him in concern. "I mean, I know most of the guests will eat it, but I'm worried that it would be offensive to Tooth. I haven't known how to ask her, but I'm afraid that if she shows up and sees it—"
"Mom, don't worry," Jack reassured her. "For one thing, Tooth is a fairy, not an actual bird. Secondly, she's okay with other people eating meat, even poultry, she just doesn't do it herself because she can talk to animals."
"Oh, thank goodness," Mrs. Bennett sighed. "I've been so worried about it that I've been too nervous to even order anything with chicken in it when we go out to lunch."
"Trust me, it's not a problem," Jack answered, smiling at the fact that she was going out of her way to be sensitive to his friends.
"I am making lots of vegetarian friendly foods," she told him as she moved to stir the cranberries on the stove. "I know that both Tooth and Bunnymund don't eat meat, and I wasn't sure about Sandy, so I decided to be prepared."
Jack shook his head slightly. "I still don't quite get how you got to know everyone so quickly," he said. "Heck, I almost think you know some of them better than I do."
"Well, it makes sense since I'm seeing North that I'd know him better," Mrs. Bennett responded teasingly, and then waved her spoon at him. "But you don't have an excuse when it comes to Tooth. She's been waiting for you to ask her out ever since I met her. You need to get moving on it if you don't want her to get away."
"I'm still waiting for the right moment," Jack mumbled, looking embarrassed.
"Well, she's going to be here this afternoon," Mrs. Bennett told him. "Either you ask her out, or I'm doing it for you."
"You wouldn't!" Jack's eyes went wide.
"That's what I did for my brother." Mrs. Bennett turned back to the stove. "You can ask Carol about it, she'll give you the whole story."
"Ask me about what?" Carol came into the kitchen dressed in a cranberry colored house dress, yawning slightly and not fully awake.
"Mom's threatening to ask a girl out for me!" Jack told her, hoping to get some protection from his aunt. But he had no such luck.
"Oh goodness," Carol laughed, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "What is it with the males in this family and being so afraid of the opposite sex? Trust me Jack, you'd better do what she says unless you want to be publicly humiliated."
"Gee, thanks for the support," Jack grumbled, but he couldn't stay mad at them for long. He had been looking for an excuse to ask Tooth out—maybe this was just the push he needed.
Fortunately for him, before things could get any more embarrassing, Fredrick and Jamie showed up and the conversation turned to the events of the day. Carol and Mrs. Bennett and even little Sophie were going to spend the first half of the day in the kitchen making preparations for the arrival of the guests. They said it was old family tradition for the women of the family to fix the Thanksgiving meal and they weren't about to have the guys meddling and making a mess of things. Jamie didn't have too much of a problem with that—Jack simply froze over the backyard for him and he was quite content keeping himself entertained. As for Jack and Fredrick, after the initial awkwardness of getting re-acquainted (the last time Fredrick had seen Jack was when he was still human, not an ice spirit), Jack tried his best to prepare him for meeting the rest of the Guardians. He had, of course, met Bunnymund and North, but they were arguably the least exotic of the group. Jack didn't want him to freak out when he met a fairy who looked like she was half bird or a little man made out of golden sand. Fredrick had lots of questions of his own about the mythical world in general, and Jack was more than happy to answer to the best of his ability.
The guests started arriving around 3:00. North, of course, was the first to arrive, with Bunny not far behind him. When Sandy arrived not much after them, Jack introduced him to his uncle, still unsure of how he would react. Sandy greeted him with one of his wordless "hellos", and then signaled a few rapid pictures to Jack.
It took Jack a moment to try to translate them in his head, but by that time Fredrick was already responding, "Yes, I'm Jack's uncle."
Sandy, looking delighted, signaled something else to him, to which Fredrick instantly answered, "No, the pleasure is all mine."
Jack gaped at him. "Wait, you can understand Sandy?" he asked in disbelief.
"I always was good at picture games and puzzles," Fredrick explained with a small shrug. "Besides, I spent years in seminary learning to translate Hebrew and Greek. This is child's play in comparison."
Sandy, so excited to have found someone who he could actually hold an extended conversation with, grabbed Fredrick's hand and started dragging him towards the living in room so that they could have a proper discussion. About what, Jack had no idea, but he figured that they'd find something of common interest—Sandy would probably be happy to talk about anything after all these years.
"Well, what do you know," the frost spirit murmured, shaking his head with a slight smile on his lips.
"Ja-ack!" The musical voice alerted him to the presence of the fifth and final guardian.
"Tooth!" He turned and met the fairy with open arms. "Was your flight okay?" he asked once the short but still sweet embrace was over.
"Uh huh," Tooth agreed, her wings fluttering with pleasure. "The girls are taking care of tooth pickups for me, so I should be free for the next couple of hours."
"You think you'll be able to resist the urge to fly off and take care of things on your own?" Jack asked teasingly.
"Well, hopefully," Tooth answered honestly. "I'll try my hardest, but I can't guarantee that I won't lose my head over a first tooth."
"You wouldn't be you if you didn't," Jack said with a warm smile. Then he took her arm. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my uncle and my aunt." Glancing over to where Sandy still had Fredrick as a captive audience, he added, "Well, maybe we'd better start with my aunt."
He led her into the kitchen where Aunt Carol and Mrs. Bennett were just putting the finishing touches on the dinner. As soon as they entered, the two women looked up from their work and Mrs. Bennett's face lit up. "Tooth!" she cried happily, wiping her hands on a towel before rushing to hug her friend. Tooth enthusiastically returned the gesture, and then turned slightly to meet Jack's aunt.
"So, you're the young lady our Jack can't stop talking about," Aunt Carol said with a twinkle in her eyes as she reached out to shake her hand.
"Um,y-yes," Tooth agreed, smoothing her feathers back with one hand and looking slightly embarrassed by the attention being focused on her person.
"Tooth, I'd like you to meet my Aunt Carol," Jack told his aunt, trying to help her out. "Aunt Carol, this is Toothiana, my g-girlfriend." He stumbled over the last word, as if unused to saying the word, but as soon as he'd finished he grinned, as if glad to have finally gotten up the courage to finally say it. Tooth, for her part, was so stunned that her wings stopped beating for a second and she probably would have dropped straight to the ground if North hadn't chosen their particular moment to come in. Seeing her predicament, the older gentleman hurried to catch her before she fell.
"Tooth, are you all right?" he asked in concern.
"Y-yes," Tooth agreed, her wings starting to move again as she got over her initial shock. "Actually," she fluttered into the air as a faint color came back into her cheeks, "I've never been better."
Foreseeing the possibly embarrassing scene that might follow if they stayed in the kitchen and blushing a little himself, Jack took Tooth by the arm again and said, "Uh, let's go see what Jamie and Sophie are up to, okay?"
Tooth just nodded and wordlessly followed him, still too overcome with the fact that Jack had referred to her as his girlfriend to argue or do just about anything.
"What was that all about?" North asked once they'd left, looking to Mrs. Bennett for an explanation of the odd behavior of his two younger counterparts.
"Oh, just some young love," Mrs. Bennett answered, giving him a quick kiss.
"Oh, I see." North raised his eyebrows, but didn't press the issue.
"Well, it looks like everything is ready," Carol announced after a minute, surveying the feast spread out around them.
"The kids set the table," Mrs. Bennett put in, peeking out the doors into the dining room. "And I think all of the guests are here—unless, North, we can be expecting a visit from the Spirit of Thanksgiving?"
"Oh, no." North shook his head. "After all these years and many narrow escapes, Tom has elected to stay in his home this time of year and spread the spirit of thanks from there."
"I see." Mrs. Bennett and Carol exchanged a slightly confused glance, but decided to just let it go—who were they to try to figure out the workings of the mythical world?
"Well then, let's put those strong arms of yours to use and get moving this dinner out to the table," Carol said to North, her tone playful but her expression serious as she handed him a platter of sweet potatoes. "We've got a houseful of hungry people to feed, and we need to get this food to them before it gets cold."
"I am at your service," North replied, giving a courtly bow before disappearing out the door with the plate.
"Trust me," Carol said, leaning in and speaking to her sister-in-law in a whisper, "Do not let this one get away."
"I don't intend to," Mrs. Bennett agreed, biting back a smile as she followed after North with a bowl of cranberry sauce.
It didn't take long for everything to be moved out to the table, and just a little while for everyone to be gathered. As they all took seats around the table, she couldn't help but think of how many things she had to be grateful for. She had Jamie and Sophie and her brother and sister-in-law, of course. But now she had the added blessing of her new son, Jack; of Tooth, a sweet young lady that she absolutely loved both mentoring and learning from; of Bunnymund, who had actually become one of the best baby sitters she'd ever known; and of the kindest and most wonderful man she could have asked for, North. Her brother seemed to be in the same frame of mind as he said the blessing for the meal: "Heavenly Father, we thank You for the abundance before us. You have given us great riches in not only provision for our physical needs, but You have given us great riches in not only provision for our physical needs, but You have given us many new friends, and a new family member as well."
Even though Mrs. Bennett had her eyes closed, she could feel Jack squeezing her hand and could only guess that he was grinning. "Help us to be truly grateful for everything You have given us, and let us be willing to share what You have blessed us with with those around us. Amen."
"Amen." Everyone said, and then Jamie, who had been about as patient as any ten-year-old could be on a holiday, cried ecstatically, "Let's eat!"
"The little nipper's got the right idea," Bunnymund said with a bemused smile, and the feast began. Everyone ate and ate until they couldn't eat any more—that is, until Aunt Carol brought out the pies and then everyone was able to find just enough room for a slice (or even two.)
Once everyone had finally gotten over their food induced semi-comas, the kids as well as Bunnymund went out into the backyard to burn off both calories and some extra energy. Everyone else pile into the living room for an old Bennett family tradition—watching home videos.
Jack seemed quite eager to see the films. As he told Mrs. Bennett, he thought it would help him get to know his new family better and it made him feel like he had actually been a part of their lives—which, in a way, he almost had. It was during a recording of a Christmas morning a couple of years back that he realized it. He'd seen pictures of Mrs. Bennett's deceased son, Jacob, before and he knew that he looked almost identical to the boy. But it wasn't until he actually saw him on tape that he realized just how exactly alike they were. The voice, the mannerisms, even some of the same phraseology—everything was an exact match. It was surreal, and almost like he had actually been there. For a few he almost wondered if he had been. The images were so vivid to him that they were almost like memories. But he shook his head to clear away those thoughts. That was impossible—there was no way that he could have been there. It must just be a case of his imagination getting the better of him. Still, as he watched the rest of the videos, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen some of these scenes before.
Mrs. Bennett, for her part, was so overwhelmed with her own thoughts that she didn't notice Jack's strange reaction to the recordings. This was her first time since the funeral that she's allowed herself to watch any videos with Jacob or her husband in them, and it was bittersweet. It was somewhat painful, of course—it always would be to some extent. But now, having learned to move on from the initial grief, she was able to enjoy remembering the good times. The fact that she had North on her left side and Jack on her right was definitely a help. Even so, after a few clips, Carol purposefully diverted them to videos from events that didn't include the two to prevent the emotions from getting to be too much. Eventually they came to a rather old video which, when it started playing, made Mrs. Bennett's eyes light up.
"Oh, not this again," Fredrick groaned, shooting both his sister and his wife a slight glare. "Do we have to watch this every single year?"
"Of course we do," Mrs. Bennett replied, looking slightly shocked by the thought of not watching the film. "It's tradition!"
"Your tradition," Fredrick glowered, folding his arms over his chest. "You wouldn't be so keen on it if you were the one who had thrown up on the carousel."
"That was only because you ate too much cotton candy," Mrs. Bennett responded airily. "The rest of the day was perfectly glorious, and you know it."
Her brother gave a noncommittal grumble, but didn't say anything more to the contrary.
"Wait, what exactly are we watching?" Jack asked curiously, intrigued and somewhat bemused by the argument.
"The best Christmas ever," Mrs. Bennett and Fredrick said at the same time, although Mrs. Bennett's cheerful tone sharply contrasted with Fredrick's almost mocking one which told the others he'd heard her talk about this too many times before.
"It was the year our parents took us to New York City as a surprise," Mrs. Bennett explained, her eyes shining. "About a week before Christmas, my father had a conference in the city that he had to attend, so very early on the morning that he was supposed to leave, my parents got Fredrick and me up and loaded us into the car. They didn't tell us where exactly we were going or what we were doing, but we all got on a plane together and the next thing I knew we were in New York. Oh, it was a gorgeous day—the weather was cold, but not too cold. I got to have my first New York bagel in the airport and then, while my dad was in the conference, my mother took me and Fred to see the sights."
"Really? Like where?" North asked, taking a serious interest in the conversation.
"Well, let's see…First we went to the FAO Schwarz toy store. After that we went to the Central Park Zoo—which is where Fred rode the infamous carousel—and had lunch from a hot dog vendor there. After lunch we went to go see a Santa Claus in the big the big Macy's department store and then we explored Times Square until our dad met us to go see and off Broadway production of my favorite Christmas story of all time—Miracle on 34th Street!" She let out a happy sigh at the memory. "I'll never forget a single moment of that day. And, fair or not, every Christmas since then I've compared to that one."
"I see." North nodded and smiled, but for the remainder of the videos, he remained oddly silent. Mrs. Bennett wondered if somehow she'd offended him and thought that maybe she had seemed to have been setting the bar for this Christmas too high—something she certainly wasn't trying to do, but she could see how he might misinterpret if that way. Later that afternoon, she caught up to him out in the hallway conversing with Jack. As soon as they noticed her approaching, both instantly stopped talking, which only deepened her feeling that something might be wrong. Jack, sensing that she wanted to talk to North alone, quickly excused himself.
"North, is everything okay?" Mrs. Bennett asked, looking up at him in concern. "I can't help but feel that you're—well, upset about something."
"What? Oh, ach, no!" he quickly reassured her. Then, twisting his hat in his hands, he amended, "Well, just a little. As you know, today is the last day that we're going to be able to see each other like this for a little while."
"Oh, right." Mrs. Bennett smiled sadly. "You've got to start preparing for Christmas after this."
"Yes," North agreed, looking as sad as she did. He took her hand in his. "You know, this is the first year that I've ever regretted having to get ready for Christmas?"
"I'm sorry," Mrs. Bennett apologized, feeling somewhat guilty.
"Don't be," North responded, fondly stroking her hair. "You're the best distraction I've ever had." She giggled happily and he leaned in to kids her, but, hearing a noise in the kitchen, he gestured for her to follow him into the living room where they could have some privacy. She did, and they started to kiss again when they were suddenly aware of the presence of two pairs of eyes on them. Turning, they discovered that Jack and Tooth were huddled together on the couch, watching them with great interest.
Tooth blushed once she realized that they'd been discovered, but Jack just grinned and said, "Oh, don't mind us. Go right on ahead."
"Jack!" Mrs. Bennett looked slightly embarrassed. "What are you doing in here?"
"Well, I was just asking this lovely young lady if she'd like to accompany me on a little trip two Saturdays from now," Jack answered, giving Tooth's hand a squeeze.
"You mean you finally asked her on a date?" Mrs. Bennett exclaimed, pressing her hands to her mouth.
"Yes!" Tooth shrieked happily, her wings fluttering with excitement.
"Congratulations!" North boomed, his grin taking up his entire face. "I hope the two of you will be very happy together."
"Good grief, it's not like I proposed," Jack complained, rolling his eyes but not looking too terribly upset by the attention. "And it's not like you gave me much choice," he whispered to Mrs. Bennett as she came over and hugged him.
"But you don't regret it now that you have, do you?" Mrs. Bennett whispered back.
"No," Jack agreed with a slight smile.
"So, where are you two going?" Mrs. Bennett asked once she'd finally let her adopted son go.
"That's…a surprise," Jack answered somewhat evasively, but Mrs. Bennett caught him looking at Tooth and then at North in such a way that made her slightly suspicious.
"Wait a minute…Are you two up to something?" Mrs. Bennett asked, raising a curious eyebrow.
"No…" Jack said unconvincingly.
"Jack, don't lie to me." Mrs. Bennett crossed her arms. "What is going on here?" she asked, looking at the three of them in turn.
"Uh, Jack, didn't you have a snowstorm due in Florida?" Tooth said quickly to Jack. Jack looked at her in confusion for a moment, and then his eyes lit up with understanding.
"Oh, right," he replied, getting up quickly and pulling Tooth up with him. The tow started edging slowly out of the room and then made a break for it as soon as they were out of sight.
"Care to elaborate on that?" Mrs. Bennett turned to North, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Children will be children," North replied with a semi-guilty looking shrug. Before Mrs. Bennett could press for more details, though, he put his arm around her waist and said, "Now, weren't we about to do something before we got interrupted?"
"Why yes, we were," Mrs. Bennett agreed, deciding to let her suspicions go for the moment as North leaned in to kiss her. "How bad could things be," she wondered, enjoying the warm feeling of his lips on hers, "When your boyfriend is such a good kisser?" She didn't even notice the light powdering of snow falling outside the window as two love struck Guardians looked on and smiled.
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Oh mah gersh, fluff! Fluffy feels everywhere! Seriously, I'm sorry, I just loved all the shipping and family moments in this chapter, and I hope you guys did too. I can't wait to see you soon with the next chapter (a very, very special chapter, but I'm not giving any spoilers!) Hope you guys have a great rest of your weekend, I'm giving out pumpkin muffins to all of my reviewers this week! ^^ Have a blessed one!