A/N Sorry this took so long to get out, I guess I kind of just lost my way a bit. It's a cute chapter I guess, just kind of boring. Oh, well, Enjoy! I have part of the next one done already, so hopefully it's not quite as long of a wait.
Emily groaned as her alarm went off again for the fourth time that morning. It was one of her traits that drove Jessica insane, because who wants to be woken up before they are ready to be? This was the one on her phone, with a different sound than the rest, and it was labeled "get yo ass outta bed". She had done it to make herself laugh in the morning, and it had worked at first. But now, it was just annoying. She turned it off and rolled back over, adjusting to being awake. She felt her eyes start to close again. "No! No more sleeping!" She whispered to herself. She sat up straight and rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the feeling of being awake.
Getting up early was one of Emily's least favorite things to do. Especially when she had been out all night the night before, learning to dance from Ria, and chasing after her cousins and Kiley. She really wanted to sleep a little more. She groaned again. Two more hours of sleep means two less hours of spending time with Uncle George and everyone else, and she didn't get to see them all that often. Her desires admitted defeat. She swung her legs over to the side of her bed and stood up. She walked over to her dresser and searched for her favorite cable knit sweater and pair of skinny jeans. She wiggled into her pants and slipped the brown sweater over her head. She looked in the mirror and admired the intricacy of her sweater, the way the yarn twisted and crisscrossed. It was beautiful and understated. She would love to learn how to make one like it someday.
She smiled to herself, and grabbed a pen and a post-it from her desk. Learn to knit. She wrote in cursive, removed the post it and stuck it to her vanity. She pulled her hair back into a quick pony tail, grabbed her keys and walked out of her bedroom quietly, so she wouldn't wake her mother. She rushed out to the car, it was cold outside. It was colder in her car. She turned it on and put the air on full blast and the heat all the way up, trying to warm herself up quickly. She turned on her Jason Mraz CD and headed to her Father's.
She pulled into his driveway and parked to the side, leaving room for a few cars, she knew there would be a ton later today. She looked at her clock, it was just a little after 8, and looked back at the front door. She felt strange for hesitating, but the last time she had entered the house early, she'd scared the crap out of Gillian. She pulled out her phone and fooled around on it for a little bit, checking out Facebook, and reading updates on twitter. Suddenly, a banner appeared at the top of her phone, a text message from her Dad. She opened it up. WHAT R U DOING OUT THERE? PLANNING ON COMING IN ANYTIME SOON?
She laughed to herself, and answered him back. YEA, SORRY! CHECKING EMAIL! B RIGHT IN! It was true enough, and much easier to lie to him via text message. She got out of the car and entered in the side door, the door leading straight to the kitchen. There she found her father, flower apron and all, cooking away, at eight in the morning.
The kitchen was one of those places that her Dad came alive, and it amused her to think of a time when he wasn't as much of a gourmet chef. She took off her jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. "What can I do to help?" She asked him, looking around.
He pointed in the general direction of the refrigerator. "Cut up the bell peppers and tomatoes for a salad." He answered, not looking up from his stuffing. Emily grinned, and went to the fridge, pulling out not only those, but some cucumbers and a couple bags of lettuce. She placed those on the island, and bent down in the cabinet next to her father to grab a cutting board. She felt arms around her shoulders, as her Dad gave her a quick hug, and kissed the top of her head. "Thanks, luv. It doesn't need to be put together yet, I just want the vegetables cut, that way I can use them for salad and whatever else."
She smiled at him. "Of course, Dad. No worries here!" She brought the cutting board over to where the veggies were, and put the bags of lettuce back into the refrigerator. She started with the bell peppers, sneaking a few pieces here and there. When all the peppers were done, she sliced the tomatoes.
If Emily hated anything, it was silence, and it was all too awkward in the kitchen with someone else and not talking. "So, Dad, how did you sleep?" She asked, using her go to question for when things were too quiet in the mornings.
"Like crap. The couches are the worst to sleep on." He answered gruffly.
Emily nodded. "Yeah, I hate falling asleep on those, my back always hurts so much afterward." She agreed.
"Your back shouldn't hurt, you're young. You bounce back easily. Gill and I are old, and we want our bed back." He complained.
Emily laughed as she moved on to the cucumbers. "Grandpa and Maisie are older!" she teased. "Besides, why not make the boys sleep on the couch, move Grandpa and Maisie to my room, and reclaim your bed?"
"That's the plan for tomorrow night, but until then, its couches for us." He sounded annoyed.
Emily thought about different ways they could solve this problem. She didn't know anyone with an air mattress, and sometimes those were worse than the couches. She was deep in thought, and stealing a few cucumbers when Lucy came bounding into the kitchen. Emily tossed a piece of bell pepper on the ground for the puppy to pick up.
"Oi! Lucy, what do you want?" Cal said to the dog. He grabbed the knife from Emily. "Do you mind taking her out? I'll finish these up. Besides, Gillian is probably up, you guys can hang out for a bit."
"Are you sure you're all set, Dad?" Emily asked.
"Yeah." He answered, waving his hand to dismiss her. "Her leash is hanging by the front door. Just take her out and we will be all set with everything in here."
Emily grabbed the dog's leash and led her outside. She figured it would be quick, that Lucy would do what she need to do and get ready to come back inside. Instead, she found a big stick. She brought it up to Emily, and dropped it on the ground front of her. "No Lucy. Business, we can play later. Or go with Thomas up, I'm sure he would like to play." Of course, the dog didn't understand her. She picked up the stick again and dropped it at Emily's feet. Emily shook her head and pulled the dog back towards the door. Lucy picked up the stick and tried to bring it with her. When they got to the door, Emily took the stick out of Lucy's mouth, and put it up on the railing of the porch. She made a mental note to tell Thomas about it later.
In the house, Emily crept into the living room, and peered her head around the corner, trying not to wake Gillian up. When she saw Gillian up and surfing the Netflix queue, she knew she was all set. She walked in and sat on the couch next to Gillian. Gillian offered the other end of her blanket, and the teen happily accepted. Gillian clicked on their new favorite show, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23. They watched together in silence. Emily noticed that as the show went on, she slowly drifted closer to Gillian. In turn, Gillian uncurled her legs a bit, leaving space for Emily to lean. Emily was amazed at how natural it felt, just cuddling up with Gillian under a blanket, and watching TV like it was any other day. Emily appreciated everything Gillian did to make her feel comfortable. They heard a crash from the kitchen. "Cal, are you alright?" Gillian called out.
"Yeah, I'm okay, luv." Came the response.
Emily giggled in spite of herself.
"What are you laughing at?" Gillian asked.
"This." She gestured toward the kitchen. "It just brings back memories."
Gillian's face lit up, she loved hearing about the past. "What kind of memories?"
"The kind where Dad couldn't cook."
Gillian looked confused. She angled her body to face the teen. "George said Cal was always the cook."
Emily nodded. "Yeah, but that pretty much consisted of scrambled eggs, spaghetti and meatballs, and beans on toast. There is a reason I tease him about it so much."
"Really? That was it?" Gillian was surprised.
"I'm afraid so." Both women jumped at the sound of George's voice. "Sorry ladies, didn't mean to frighten you." He sat down on the loveseat. "But I wasn't lying when I said he was the cook. Dad didn't know how to make anything, and I was a bit too young to try. It made for some interesting meals when Cal wasn't around."
Emily nodded in agreement. "Yeah, when he was married to Mom, she did all of the cooking. When they divorced, he was back to that old diet, and so was I when I was with him." She sat back on the couch, grinning, with a faraway look in her eye. "I used to pack food from Mom's to bring with me, so I could eat something here. When he realized it, he decided to learn how to cook." She snapped back to reality and looked at Gillian. "You know my Dad, and when he wants to learn something, he won't stop until he's mastered it. Hence, the gourmet meals!"
Gillian laughed, but nodded all the same. It was so true. The whole science, their whole company, was built off of something he had learned and mastered. She knew this all too well.
"You know, in some ways, I'm just like that." Emily continued. "I have this idea, where I would start a blog. I want to learn how to do something new, and blog about it while I do it. I think it could be interesting."
"Sound like a lovely idea, luv. What do you plan to learn first?" George responded.
Emily grinned. "I'd like to learn how to knit, actually."
"Oh! That sounds cool!" Gillian smiled, and her voice pitch went up as she responded to the teen. "Wait until the summer for that one, I'd love to learn with you!"
Emily nodded. "Okay. The other thing I really want to do is learn another language." She pulled out her phone. "I have this great app, it's like Rosetta Stone, but free! And I have flashcards on here too, so I can study in my free time. I want to learn Italian!"
George laughed. "That sounds great, Em. How are you doing with it so far?"
"I'm not sure yet, I haven't tried anything out on actual people, and I just started. I can tell you about boys, girls, men, women, and apples, though!"
Everyone laughed at this. They were soon joined by Alice, and all of them threw around a whole slew of things Emily could learn. Code so she could design her own website, learn to drive a stick shift, a few really cool magic tricks, and juggling were all things that she was told to try and learn.
Slowly, the rest of the visitors trickled their way into the living room. Gillian and Emily moved closer to each other to make room on the couch for Maisie. Her Grandfather sat on the love seat with George and Alice. Finally, the boys came downstairs, all dressed and ready for the day. Emily stood up when they entered the room. "Hey, guys! Lucy wants to play fetch, we left a stick on the porch." She told them, heading toward the door. "It's a little chilly, you might want a jacket." She told them, putting on her own green pea coat.
Thomas and Lawrence looked at Alice, and when she nodded her approval, they grinned. Thomas was jumping up and down, and squealing.
As Emily handed them their respective jackets, Cal came out of the kitchen. "Gillian." He called to her.
Gillian had gotten comfier on the couch after Emily left. One leg was bent up in front of her, and the other was curled underneath her. She was still wrapped in the blanket. She snapped her head up to look at him. "Yes Cal?"
"The oven is free for your cake." He disappeared back into the kitchen.
"Excuse me, I need to go make chocolate cake." Gillian said to their guests. She hopped up from her perch on the couch and joined Cal in the kitchen.
Emily opened the door and stood out of the way, letting Thomas and Lawrence out. "Feel free to join us outside!" Emily shouted behind her as she followed her cousins and the dog outside.
No one from inside joined them outside, but Emily was having so much fun playing with her cousins and Lucy, that she didn't realize how much time had passed. She was surprised when a van pulled up, and Sarah and Sadie were suddenly running around too.
"Thomas! Lawrence! We brought our soccer ba, I mean, our football!" Sarah yelled out. Emily chuckled at that, and went over to greet Nick and Nancy. Nick greeted her with a warm hug.
"You guys must be early! What time is it?" Emily asked, as she hugged Nancy.
Nancy laughed. "We're not that early! It's 12:30." She kissed the teen on top of her head. "How have you been, Em?" Nancy asked.
Emily smiled. "Good. I haven't played outside in ages! Time really flies when you're having fun!" She looked over to where all four of her cousins were playing. They had formed a circle and were kicking the ball back and forth, with poor Lucy stuck as the monkey in the middle. "You guys can head inside, I'll stay out here." She told them. They nodded at her and headed toward the door, while Emily joined the circle of kids kicking around the soccer ball.
A few minutes later, Emily recognized her Mother's black sedan making its way up the driveway. "I'll be right back, guys!" she called out to the kids as she raced over to the car. Zoe was tackled in a fierce hug as soon as she stepped out of the car. "Happy thanksgiving, Mom."
Zoe stroked the teen's hair. "Hey, baby. You've been sleeping at my house, but I feel like I haven't seen you all week!" She laughed, but for a split second, Emily felt guilty. It was true, she had hardly seen her mother all week, and she hoped that Zoe didn't feel used.
Zoe seemed to register Emily's guilt. "It's okay, I get why you want to be here. How often to you get to see George and the kids?" She smiled, and Emily smiled back, relieved that her mom understood. Zoe pointed at the group of children, all of them about half of her age. "It looks like you are having fun, though!"
Emily laughed. "Seriously, when is the last time I played outside? I'm having a blast!" Zoe laughed at her, and started walking toward the house. Emily waved awkwardly at Tony, who waved just as awkwardly back. "Hey." She forced out.
"Hey, Em. I'll meet you inside." He responded. He followed her mother towards the house. Emily turned back toward her cousins. She liked Tony, he was nice, but they didn't have a connection. Not like the connection that she had with Gillian. Sometimes, Emily thinks her connection with Gillian is stronger than her connection with her own mother.
At this point, Lucy was worn out. She had been chasing that ball for hours. So she was laying on the deck, patiently waiting to be let inside. The Thomas and Lawrence were slowly getting worn out as well. As Emily approached, she could see this. Their faces were red, they were panting, and Thomas was sitting down, trying to catch the ball that way, which wasn't working out very well for him. "Hey, guys!" Emily called to them as she got closer. They all stopped playing, and looked up at her. "What do you say we go inside for now, but we can come back out and play after we eat? Sound good?" They all nodded to that. "Let's go in, then!" Emily hastened them towards the door, and they all ran, rushing at the porch and a barking Lucy, who was suddenly reinvigorated when a crowd of kids was running toward her.
As Emily tried to wrangle four children and an over excited dog back in the house, a green Acura pulled into the driveway. She turned back towards the chaos, and found that Sadie was the only one left outside. She too had seen the car pull in, and was waiting patiently to see who would pop out of it. A tall man with white, balding hair stepped out. Emily vaguely recognized him, but Sadie knew who he was right away. "Papa!" She squealed, running towards the car.
"Hello, sweetheart!" He crooned as she crashed into his legs. He stroked her curly brown hair. "What are you doing out here in the cold?"
"I was playing out here with Sarah and the boys. And Emily!" She pointed over in Emily's direction.
Emily walked over to the man. "Hello. I don't think we were properly introduced last night. I'm Emily, Cal's daughter. You must be Gill's Dad!" She thrust out her hand, and he shook it.
"Yep. I'm Chuck, this is Jeanne. It's nice to finally meet the famous Emily!"
She released his hand. "Famous?" she inquired.
Chuck laughed. "You don't have a clue how much Gillian gushes about you, and let's not forget these girls. "He patted Sadie's head again. "They all tell me you are incredible!"
Emily was blushing. "I really don't know what I've done to deserve that honor, but thank you." She pointed toward the house. "It's crowded in there, but it's warmer. We should head in." Chuck and Jeanne both nodded, and followed the girls into the house.
It was a thanksgiving unlike one Emily had ever experienced. She had never witnessed that many people in her house before, let alone everyone getting along and just enjoying themselves. Her mom gushed over Gillian's cake again, and didn't argue with her father once. The kids entertained Lucy all day long, and fed her table scraps. That dog had never been happier than she was that day. Nick had turned on the football games, American football games, which was so unlike her life, it was kind of strange. She laughed at him as he tried to explain the rules to all of the visiting people. Her Dad and George looked thoroughly confused, although Thomas was picking it up quite easily. As soon as he knew who Nick was rooting for, you could clearly hear a little boy's voice joining in whenever Nick would yell about first downs and touchdowns, and by the end of the game he was calling penalties. George and Cal had given up at that point.
People trickled out little by little. Her mother and Tony were the first to leave, followed by Nick and the gang. Chuck and Jeanne stayed the longest, just visiting with everyone for as long as they could, but they were gone before it was dark as well.
Emily helped Gillian clean up the kitchen. For seventeen people, she was surprised by the amount of leftovers that they had. "Today was the best." Emily said to her, smiling as she thought back on it all.
Gillian grinned. "It really was."
"I wouldn't mind doing it like that every year!" Emily stated.
Gillian shrugged. "I mean, it's kind of annoying now!" she pointed at the full table of leftovers in front of them, and the pile of dishes in the sink, and they both laughed.
"I have to agree." Emily answered. "But I would totally do it again!"
When they finished cleaning, they made their way back into the living room. They all sat out there and chatted, different shows on the TV as background noise. Slowly, the visiting relatives made their way back up to their respective rooms. They all mumbled about the busy day ahead of them, and finally, it was down to just Emily, her Dad, and Gillian.
"Are you guys ready?" Emily asked.
"I have never been more ready for anything in my life." Gillian replied. Emily didn't need her father's science to know the response was genuine.
Emily grinned. "Alright. I have to leave. But I'll see you both tomorrow morning, bright and early." She hugged her Dad first, feeling comfort in his warm embrace. Next she hugged Gillian. Her tight squeeze and pat on the back meant the world to her. "I love you both, see you tomorrow." She called over her shoulder as she left.
"Love you!" They echoed back.