It was Wednesday when Yao text him.

Hey, are you going to the parade Friday?

Ivan stared at the text. Yao had only ever texted him the once before.

Um, what parade is that?

Macy's Day parade! You have to go, now. Want to meet me near West Lake Mall Friday morning?

Ivan felt giddy and light in the head.

Sure.

At about noon on Thursday, Ivan was standing at the doorstep to Berwald and Tino's apartment. It seemed cozy, with a light and dark blue sign hanging on the door, 'Welcome' written across it in yellow.

He pressed the doorbell and waited. He heard footsteps, and then Matthias was there, grinning and beckoning Ivan inside.

"Tino! Ivan's here!" Matthias called from the entry hall. He led Ivan down past several close doors to a common area, which had a dining table and was attached to a kitchen area. Tino was in there, stirring something in an opaque bowl. He smiled and waved when he saw Ivan.

"Hi! Lukas is picking up Emil's friend, and he'll be here soon. Have you ever played Monopoly? Matthias has it set up in the living room."

"Oh, uh," Ivan started, before Matthias piped up.

"I call the boot!"

"Oh, and take your coat off! You can hang it by the door," Tino called.

Matthias was already going into a third room, which was a living room with a large window, an Ikea furniture set, and a Matthias, lying on his stomach on the floor beside a board game. H was counting out slips of colored paper and placing them around the board.

Lukas arrived within five minutes, with Emil and Emil's friend, Leon, in tow.

"Leon, this is Matthias and Ivan, and Tino was in the kitchen. Everyone, this is Leon," Emil explained, sitting beside Lukas, who was seated begrudgingly beside Matthias. Leon sat between Emil and Ivan.

"Do you want to be the canon, Lukas?"

"I don't want to play."

"What? What do you mean you 'don't want to play'?" Matthias implored. His poor head just couldn't wrap itself around the concept of not wanting to play Monopoly.

"You heard me."

"I could be the canon," Emil offered, seeing how heartbroken Matthias was over older brother's refusal.

"No, you're always the hat. But, Lukas, you have to play!"

"Stop being annoying, I have to help Tino cook, anyway. Idiot."

Ivan watched this all silently. After Emil's offer was shot down, he also remained silent. Ivan got the feeling that this was one of those awkward family holidays. Leon and Emil whispered to each other quietly as Matthias pouted.

"Fine. Leon, what piece do you want?"

"I don't know. I'll be like, the money bag, I suppose."

"Okay. Ivan, you can be the dog."

Monopoly turned out not to be much fun by the end of it. Leon and Emil had apparently decided to gang up on Matthias to ensure he could win, and the Dane was sulking on the couch.

"The king has been defeated!" Emil announced as he and Leon went back into the kitchen. Lukas seemed to smile for a brief moment before going to the living room to find where Matthias had gone.

Tino watched this with a small smile before turning back to whatever dish he was preparing. Leon stood in the corner near Emil and stayed as quiet as he had been the past two hours.

"Well, so the turkey had another hour and the shepherd's pie has about a half hour. I told Berwald I'd Skype him. Does anyone else want to say hi?"

Emil shrugged a 'might as well', and they all went back to the living room, where Lukas and Matthias were sitting on the couch; curiously, they were on opposite side of the couch. They booth looked rather dazed, with Matthias eyeing Lukas, obviously confused.

Emil was watching them suspiciously.

Tino sat on the ground and pulled a laptop onto his lap. Emil was beside him, with Leon on the other side.

Berwald answered the Skype call almost immediately. He and Tino talked (ahem, Tino talked), and Emil and Matthias both called a hello. When pressed to do so, Lukas also waved at the came, which Tino had aimed at him.

Ivan didn't pay much attention to the conversation. Tino talked for nearly an hour, the others just awkwardly there. Lukas had gotten the shepherd's pie out of the oven for him, and now the turkey was almost done.

"Nh, Alma wants to say hi."

"Oh, okay! I haven't seen Alma for a long while," Tino said happily. "Hi Alma!"

"Helloh," a deep feminine voice greeted from the other side. She had an obvious Minnesotan accent.

The oven beeped, signaling that the turkey was done.

"I'll get it," Lukas said, standing.

"I'll help him," Matthias said, jumping to his feet and following him. Emil watched them leave.

Tino chatted a little longer. Ivan heard the turkey being put back in the oven, but the two didn't come back to the living room.

Tino refused to let anyone help him carry the dishes out into the dining room. When he set it all out, everyone sat down.

"I can cut the turkey if you want," Matthias offered, smiling and putting his hands out to take the big knife from Tino. Tino just smiled at him, sweetly yet completely unnervingly.

"No thank you, Matthias. I think I can handle it."

Matthias sat back down.

Tino cut the turkey masterfully, and served pieces to everyone. Tino, being a devout Lutheran along with Lukas and Emil and Matthias, said a quick prayer, and they passed dishes around family-style.

"So, how is high school going for you two?" Tino asked, taking a bite of Jell-O and looking at Leon and Emil. Ivan hadn't realized Emil was that young…

Leon and Emil exchanged glances before Emil said, "It's fine, but our humanities teacher is a total douche."

"Little brother! Don't talk like that at the dinner table!"

"Well, it's true," Emil mumbled.

"You two are high school friends? That's cool," Matthias said as he buttered a biscuit

"Yeah, we're both juniors."

Matthias nodded as he took a bite of his biscuit.

"So, Leon, does your family not celebrate Thanksgiving?" Tino asked once silence had fallen.

"Ahm, my cousins do. But they, like, invited my step-uncle, and I don't like him, so I accepted Emil's invitation."

"I see, that's too bad about your family."

"Not really," he shrugged.

It became quiet again, and Ivan took a drink of the beverage that had been poured for him.

Matthias smiled at Ivan's surprised expression. "I may or may not have put a bit of vodka in yours and Tino's," he whispered, winking conspiratorially.

"You did not," Lukas hissed, overhearing what Matthias had said.

"Stop whispering at the table," Emil said snarkily, glad to have something to scold his brother on.

Lukas silently glared at Matthias' smug smile, who winked at him.

"Oh! Ivan, what are you doing tomorrow? Have you ever gone to the Macy's Day Parade?" Tino asked suddenly.

"Ah, yes I am planning to go tomorrow."

"Oh? Who are you going with?" he asked. It seemed to dawn on him as soon as he asked, though, because he immediately followed it up with, "Are you going with Yao?"

"Well, I…" Ivan knew he was blushing, damn his light complexion.

"Yao? Wang Yao?" Leon asked.

"Yeah? Do you know him?"

"He's one of my cousins, yeah."

"What a small world!" Tino exclaimed.

Ivan and Leon nodded, but neither said any more on the subject.

After the plates had been cleared away and Tino was bringing out some pumpkin pie, Leon's phone buzzed. He read the message and sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go pick up Yao. Thank you for having me," he said as he got up from the table and bowed his head to Tino. "I'll see you Monday, Emil."

"Thank you for coming!" Tino called as Leon collected his items.

Leon nodded once more before leaving.

Yao was sitting on a bench at the end of his street when Leon pulled up. "How long have you been sitting out here?" Leon asked when Yao got in the passenger seat of his car.

"I don't know, a half hour or so?"

"Why? What happened this time?" Leon had a good idea of what happened, but he knew Yao liked to vent, anyway.

"He started talking to me. God, just because he fucked my mom doesn't mean he can act like my dad." Yao was angry. He wasn't going to tell Leon exactly what his step-father had said.

"Yao, he married your mother over twenty years ago."

"Yeah, but—ugh, I had thought that when I moved out when I turned eighteen I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. Aiyah, I just… If it weren't for Kiku, I wouldn't have to deal with that asshole at all. Now, though, I have to see his stupid face every fucking holiday, and it's going to drive me insane."

"I know. Everyone avoids him except Kiku. I would expect him to be more sensitive to your feelings about it, but I guess that's too much to ask. Maybe you should try celebrating with friends instead of family?"

"Kiku wouldn't let me."

"What do you mean 'Kiku wouldn't let you'? He's like, six years younger than you. If it makes you feel this bad, having to see him all the time, just tell Kiku to fuck himself, you know?"

Yao sighed

"How much did you eat?"

"Nothing. I left before we really sat down to eat."

"Do you want to go get, like, McDonald's or something?"

"No, I don't want a stupid burger from McDonald's."

"You're just in a bad mood. You want Burger King, then?"

Yao huffed and looked away. "…Fine."

Leon smiled.

Matthias had pulled out the beer after Leon had left. Tino had a stash of vodka that he shared with Ivan.

By the time he left, Ivan had a buzz from the high quality vodka: who knew Tino had such good taste in so many things.

He took the bus home and crashed on his bed as soon as he could.