AN: Happy (belated) New Year! :D Enjoy Jaden's first official attempt at girls and the Thanksgiving holiday special (that's over a month due O.O)

Rebirth

Chapter Thirty Five

Stalker Jaden

Her name was Annalise.

Not that Jaden learned that until their fifth "coincidental" meeting. He had returned the next day to give back the umbrella he had been forced to borrow, and he had marveled at how different she looked without the hoodie covering her face. The midday sun had highlighted the red strands of her short auburn hair, and the sharp angles of her cheeks seemed to fit perfectly with paleness of her skin and the shape of her hazel eyes. By the time he had realized that he had been staring at her like a moron, she had already collected what belonged to her with a brief thank you for its return and walked away.

The second time they had run into each other was purely coincidental. Mattie had invited Jaden to meet him and Robin on campus so that they could go out for lunch together, and Jaden had been surprised to stumble upon Robin speaking to the same woman that had been consuming his thoughts lately. She had seemed surprised to see him too, but she hadn't stayed long enough to engage in any conversation as she excused herself for a prior arrangement. Jaden had made the mistake of getting revenge on Robin for the blind date that morning, so of course, his friend had refused to give him any information about the mysterious woman.

Jaden wouldn't lie and say that the remaining encounters were just as accidental. He had taken a day off from work just to "casually" walk up and down the block in Manhattan where he had first met her (and yes, he did realize later that his behavior border lined "stalker," but he was on a mission at the time!), and he had caught her returning from the university just before nightfall. To say that she was unimpressed by his presence would be a severe understatement, and she had merely warned him that if he did anything funny, a restraining order would be promptly filed against him.

The fourth time would have been almost coincidental…if he hadn't had Mattie covertly wheedle information from Robin. But in his defense, the little café he bumped in to her at was one that he often frequented when he was waiting for Mattie and Robin to finish classes on Fridays. He had almost become discouraged when he had seen her walk in with another guy, but they were soon joined by a third party that was obviously involved with said guy, and that had given Jaden the perfect opportunity to casually walk by their table and act astonished to see her.

Having an iced latte thrown into his face from his abrupt arrival had never been more enjoyable.

And finally, the meeting where names were finally exchanged. That one had started just like any other.

"Are you still stalking me?"

Yep, just like every other meeting. Jaden grinned and fell in step beside her as they walked across the university's campus. Finals were starting to begin, and many students could be seen doing some last minute studying before stepping into the classroom. Last he had checked, Mattie had been doing the same thing while Robin breezed through her third semester of classes with ease.

"Ah wouldn't say 'stalking,'" Jaden answered, casually stuffing his hands deep into his pockets as a chilly gust of wind rushed over them. It was a good thing he had grabbed his beanie that morning. Having little to no hair during the winter kind of sucked here. "We just happened ta go ta a lot o' the same places."

"So, you're studying in the engineering field then?"

"No."

"Then what are you honestly doing on this side of the campus?" the woman questioned, stopping on the edge of the sidewalk to critically stare at him. Jaden dodged a pair of talkative students to stand with her. "What are you doing on campus at all? Your friend says that you don't attend Columbia University."

"Ah usually come when Ah got time ta wait for my friends ta get outta class."

"And that's all fine and dandy. Except for the fact that you should be waiting all the way over there."

Jaden followed the direction in which she was pointing and saw the buildings that housed the majority of Mattie and Robin's classes. He shrugged as he turned back to her. He liked to think that she had her arms crossed because of the cold instead of suspicion. "They don't get out fo' another hour."

"So?"

"My lunch hour's up in forty minutes, but Ah aint got nobody ta share lunch with."

"Seriously?" Jaden smiled in response to the auburn haired woman's exasperation. "You've been stalking me for the past four months just to ask me out for lunch?"

"Sorta. It morphed from breakfast, ta dinner, an' then Ah just decided that lunch was a better option." He gave her a big toothy grin when she just stared at him. "Ah'll buy."

"No."

Jaden's smile instantly vanished when she sharply turned to walk away. That…that wasn't how he had imagined this whole scenario ending. He snapped out of his stupor and hurried to catch up to her before she managed to get too far away. "Wait! Why not?"

"Because you've been creeping around for the past four months," she answered as she continued her brisk pace. "If I had known that performing a good deed would turn you into an actual stalker, I wouldn't have given you that umbrella."

"Ah'm not a stalker!" Jaden frantically insisted. He hadn't known that had seriously been considering him a stalker. He thought her stalker questions had just been casual teasing! "If Ah was a stalker, Ah'd know a whole mo'e about you then what Ah do know, which is limited ta where ya live, where ya go to school-"

"If you say you know where I work, I will seriously call the police right now." Jaden froze as her threat was backed up by the fact that she instantly whipped her cellphone out from the pocket of her jacket. She glared at him with her critical eyes, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Jaden still couldn't help but think that the hazel color of her eyes was the prettiest eye color he had ever seen…oh dear God. He seriously was beginning to sound like a stalker!

"Hold up, hold up!" Jaden repeated as the university student's finger hovered over the screen of her phone. He took a step towards her before frantically waving his hands when her finger touched the screen. "Ah think we seriously got off on da wrong foot here! Ah aint tryin' ta be some scary creep or anything."

"Oh well, you managed to completely screw that up."

"Ah know. But Ah just…" Jaden paused to think about his next words before taking of his signature pair of shades so that she could see the sincerity he attempted to convey. "Ah've never done this before."

"I can see that. You really do make a terrible stalker."

"Not that! Ah've never…jeez! This might sound really weird, but Ah've never actually been interested in anybody before. That night we met was da first Ah'd ever been on a date, an' that was one that got set up by Robbie! Then Ah met you, an' Ah'm not gonna lie; majority o' my thoughts lately usually come back to you—but not in creepy way! Ever since that night we met, Ah've just wanted ta get ta know you better. Lookin' back now, Ah shouldn't of approached it in da way Ah did, bu' you weren't given me many opportunities ta even ask fo' a name!"

Jaden put on his most pitiful face in the wake of her continued glare. Man! She was undeniably a hard nut to crack. However, her tenacity was nothing he hadn't dealt with before. He had grown up with stubborn females all around him—his mom, Robbie, all of his girl cousins, Annabelle…really the only woman he could think of that was flexible was Sammy, and according to Zach she hadn't always been that way. Maybe that was one of the reasons he had never been interested in any of the girls back in high school; they never lived up to the unconscious expectations that he had already been forming, and perhaps that's why he found the nameless woman so appealing.

"You don't even my name?"

"No! Ah tried ta get Robbie ta tell me bu'…well, we kinda got this ongoin' feud since that blind date. An' Ah wasn't 'bout ta sneak inta the university's records ta find it." Jaden quickly backtracked when he saw her eyes narrow. "Not that Ah could actually do that or nothin'! Ah mean, sneakin' inta a high school ta change a grade from an A ta a D's gotta be a hundred times easier than sneakin' inta a university."

"You've snuck into a high school…to change a passing grade to an almost failing grade? What kind of person does that?"

"Me!" The woman's eyebrow twitched up into an unimpressed arch as Jaden held his arms out in a happy display. "There's lotsa crazy stuff ya don't know about me, bu' Ah want ya ta get ta know me like Ah wanna know you. So please, lemme get a second chance ta show that Ah aint a stalker."

Jaden feared that his plea wouldn't get her to budge. That was the downfall of learning to deal with the stubbornness of a woman—he had learned a long time ago that they were not very easily swayed. Even Sammy had learned to say no to his most pitiful face.

But he noticed the almost indecipherable shift in the woman's stance, and his cheeks began to hurt as his smile widened when she placed her phone back in her pocket. "I'm only giving you another chance because Robin spoke pretty highly of you."

"That's great!"

"But I'm not going out with you."

Jaden's happy mood instantly deflated. "Why not?"

"I don't know you. Like you said, we haven't even exchanged names at this point. I've also sworn of any romantic relationship until I at least finish my undergrad studies. We can try the 'friend' thing if you knock it off with the stalking, but the moment you start getting creepy again, I honestly will get a restraining order."

"Deal!" Jaden stuck his hand out to seal the agreement, and he momentarily marveled at how small her hand was in comparison to his. How had he never noticed how small women's hands were? "Ah'm Jaden, the guy who seriously aint a stalker."

"Annalise. The woman who really doesn't play around with that kind of stuff."

Jaden smiled as the handshake came to an end, and he allowed Annalise to walk away without further argument. Annalise…Annie. He always knew there had been a reason for why he had never given that nickname to Annabelle. Speaking of which, he felt like he could finally tell the Lennox that it had been him who ruined her summer romance back in junior year instead of her dad. He was sure Shareeka wouldn't lend her car to her friend to drive the three hours it took to get from Harvard University to Manhattan.

…then again, he should probably get a better idea about this whole romance thing before he almost screwed himself over again. Annabelle had picked up more than her interest in politics from Raphael.

"Special" VI: Thankful Turkey

"Are you serious?"

Will cleared his throat in an attempt to stop his laughter, but an amused smile managed to make it through his neutral expression. "You said you wanted a turkey for Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, I wanted a turkey I could eat. Not one I gotta feed."

Will couldn't contain his laughter anymore, and a hearty laugh escaped him at the expense of his friend. Epps hardly looked amused by the situation, and he glared at the obnoxious sounds coming from the bed of the pickup truck. "I hate to say it Epps, but I told you so."

"Actually you didn't. The only thing you ever said was that you weren't taking the free bird."

"No, I said my uncle was a wacko who would try to give us free turkeys every year. And this is why we don't accept them."

Epps rolled his eyes and looked back at the huge bird. He shuddered as the turkey turned its beady black eyes on him. He was getting horrible flashbacks to the wild chickens he used to torment back when he was a kid…until one day they decided to turn against him.

He had never looked at another bird the same way again.

"What am I supposed to do with a live turkey?" Epps asked, turning away before the horrible memories could get any worse. He had to keep his composure in front of Will; his friend was already laughing at him. "Thanksgivin's tomorrow!"

"Looks like you're gonna have one more guest at the table this year."

"Ha ha," Epps mocked as Will's laughter kicked back up. "You are so hilarious. This was gonna be the first Thanksgiving where my mama wasn't in charge of doin' the turkey. Do you know what she's gonna do ta me when she finds we aint got no turkey?"

Will chuckled at the memory of the high-spirited woman he had met a couple of months ago and slung an arm over the angered Epps' shoulders. He was shrugged off, but that didn't prevent him from guiding the other man back towards the house. "Don't worry. Sarah told Monique ahead of time what was going to happen with the turkey, and they've been planning a joint Thanksgiving ever since. Besides, this works out for the best since some of the 'Bots are wanting to see how this holiday works."

"Just what I need," Epps muttered under his breath as he took one final covert look back at the turkey. He shuddered as it released a gobble and immediately looked away. "My mama aint ever gonna let me do Thanksgiving again."

~:0:~

"I named him Charlie."

"Nu uh! His name's Tyrese."

"What's wrong with Charlie?"

"Have you ever heard of a turkey named Charlie?"

"Have you ever heard of one named Tyrese?"

"Uh…"

"What do you think Jaden?"

Jaden blinked at the loud gobbling sound the turkey made and edged closer to the little pin that had been set up for it. He was a city kid, so seeing a bird that was bigger than a pigeon had immediately astounded him. This thing looked nothing like the hand turkeys they made in class! "He looks like a George ta me!"

Shareeka and Annabelle looked at each with mutual disagreement. "This is why mommy wouldn't let daddy name Landon."

"Men are so bad at comin' up with names."

Jaden allowed the insults to wash right over him as he stepped closer to the turkey pin. The bird noticed his approach and ran around its cage, loudly gobbling and fluffing its feathers. "How'd you get your daddy ta let ya get a turkey fo' a pet? My mama says we can' even 'ave a puppy 'cause o' our stuffy lan'lord."

Annabelle laughed at the boy's question. "Uncle Crazy sent it when Mr. Bobby said he wanted one. And it's not a pet silly! You eat turkey on Thanksgiving."

"Ah know that! What's dat gotta with anythin'?"

"He's a turkey Uncle Jaden!"

Jaden's large blue eyes became bigger at the sudden connection. He knew they ate turkey for Thanksgiving; mama always got their turkey a week early because she said people got crazy when they went turkey shopping the day before. But George didn't look anything like the turkey they normally ate! He still had a head and everything. Did that mean they had to…oh no! If they were gonna eat him, then that did meant they'd have to take all his feather off!

Jaden didn't think that George would be very happy about that.

"Wha're ya troublemakers doin' back 'ere?"

Shareeka and Annabelle playfully shrieked and took off in the opposite direction of where Leland stood. The portly man snorted at their loud departure and leveled his dark blue eyes on the unintimidated boy. "Well?"

"Are we gonna eat George?"

The Wrecker frowned in an attempt to figure out which human that was. They all had such weird names that it was sometimes hard to keep track of. It wasn't until he noticed Jaden looking at the animal behind him that Leadfoot realized the kid was talking about the bird. "'Ell if Ah know. 'Uman 'olidays make no sense."

Jaden looked back at the gobbling bird again and ran to catch up to the departing man. He tugged on the foulmouthed engineer's shirt, and Leland turned to him with an annoyed snort. The man soon appeared intrigued by Jaden's grave expression. "Leland, we gotta bird ta save."

~:0:~

"You don't have to do that Ms. Lorraine."

"Chil' please," Lorraine said, hints of her old southern accent peeking through as she dunked her hands into a sink of sudsy water. "You two been doin' all the work an' makin' me sit back with ol' Dino over there."

Dino looked offended at being called old but was promptly distracted by the big red ball that Landon Lennox pushed towards him. While the Autobot and eleven month old pushed the ball back and forth, the women in the house tended to the preparations of Thanksgiving dinner, with Shaleeka—the youngest Epps girl—happily licking away at the spoon her grandmother had used to prepare dessert. Sarah was busily taking care of the last minute preparations with one of the Arcee triplets while Monique stood beside her mother-in-law, watching her take care of all the dishes they had dirtied over the span of the day.

"At least let me do the rinsing," Monique insisted, taking up the pan that Lorraine had just washed. "Bobby was hoping to give you a work-free Thanksgiving this year."

"And I understand that perfectly. However, that boy knows well enough that I'm not about ta just sit back an' let all the work get done without helping. Speaking of which, when are those boys gonna be done with those turkeys? It's the only thing we're waitin' on now."

As if in response to her question, a sudden commotion erupted in the backyard with loud yells and children screeching. The most prominent voice was that of Epps, whose "What the hell!" could have been heard from a mile away. All of the women and Dino looked towards the noise, and Shaleeka erupted into a fit of laughter as she saw her dad run past the glass patio doors.

"What on earth?" The words had barely made it past Lorraine's lips when a giant bird came gobbling past, hot on the trail of a terrified Epps. She turned to Monique and Sarah as Shiloh came skating by with Will and an entourage of kids. "Is that the turkey you've been tellin' me about?"

Both women nodded as Arcee and Shaleeka moved towards the door to get a better look. Shaleeka's giggles increased when Epps appeared out of nowhere and began struggling to open the door. "Daddy, daddy, daddy! It's a turkey!"

"Shaleeka! Open the door for daddy!"

The three year old merely laughed when the man suddenly bolted, and the turkey gobbled past them again. By now, everyone inside the house had congregated around the door (even Dino with little Landon propped on his hip). Lorraine hummed as the other men attempted to save Epps, who had jumped up onto the patio furniture, cursing up a storm as the big bird gobbled up at him. "Have I ever told you that Bobby's got a huge fear of chickens?"

"No."

"Well, he does, an' I think it just broadened to include turkeys."

"Unca' Jad'n!" Shaleeka laughed after Arcee had lifted her up to see past the men. She leaned forward and tapped her finger against the glass at where Jaden was climbing onto a chair in the yard. "Wha' he doin'?"

Jaden threw his arms up into the air, and they could faintly hear his voice over the ruckus on the porch. "Freedom!"

What surprised them the most were the three men—the only three not helping with the out of control turkey—moved to mimic him. "Freedom!"

The group turned at the sound of a tired sigh and missed Epps' frantic escape when the turkey managed to climb up onto the table with him. Otto stood behind them, a weary expression on his face as Raphael scowled at the scene. "I believe it may be time to find the Wreckers a new project to work on."

The other two military personnel nodded in agreement, and Lorraine looked back out the window where the kids were now protesting the turkey's capture by Shiloh. A well placed foot by the silent Wrecker sent the young man tripping forward, and a round of approval came from the children and their adult accomplices as the turkey broke free once more. Lorraine was almost ashamed to admit that she found the sight of her grown son screeching in terror amusing.

Almost.

Autobot Names:
Raphael: Ratchet
Otto: Optimus
Leland: Leadfoot
Shiloh: Sideswipe