~*Thankful*~
Aiden was not in a good mood. He didn't like when plans changed—especially not when they changed at the last minute. He and Hope had been planning on spending Thanksgiving with Kayla and Steve, but then Steve had surprised Kayla and Joey with a last minute trip to Hawaii for Thanksgiving.
"I really hate to bail on you at the last minute, Hope, but is there any way at all you can make other plans for Thanksgiving? Normally I would never do this to you, but it's Hawaii! I can't pass up a family vacation in Hawaii. You can understand that, right?" Kayla had asked.
Hope, being the understanding and wonderful person she was, nodded. "Of course!" She smiled, and hugged Kayla tightly. "Don't worry about it! You just go and have a good time. Take lots of pictures and tell me all about it when you get back!"
"Oh, I will, believe me." Kayla then got a mischievous look on her face. "Do you think I should get a grass skirt and a coconut bra?"
"I'm sure Steve would love that and Joey would hate it," Hope said to her.
"All the more reason to get them then!" Kayla teased back.
They both laughed.
Anyway, long story short, Hope then decided to host Thanksgiving dinner at the house with Chase, Ciara, Shawn, and Claire. Shawn and Belle were split, and Belle was having Thanksgiving with John, Marlena, Brady, and Paul.
Aiden would have thought that Hope would go do the shopping for Thanksgiving. However, she had had a better idea.
"Aiden, Baby…" She purred, standing close to him and giving him the seductive look in her eye that he knew meant one of two things. Either she wanted him to make love to her, or she wanted a favor. He had a feeling she wanted a favor. He was right.
"I need you to go to the grocery store. It's the last day stores are open since Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I can give you a list," she said.
"I know you don't cook. Is Shawn going to cook?" Aiden asked.
"Actually, about that…" Hope bit her bottom lip, which Aiden knew was not a good sign. She did that whenever she had to tell him something he wasn't going to like. "Since Shawn and I are so busy at the station, I was thinking that maybe you and Ciara could cook. Ciara knows a little bit about cooking, and I'm sure she can help you along."
Aiden groaned. "And you think I'm not busy? Lawyers get just as busy as cops, you know. Sometimes even busier!"
Hope crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot while shooting him the "you're in trouble" look. She arched an eyebrow. "You told me last week that you never work the week of Thanksgiving; that things don't get that busy until after the holidays."
Aiden felt his face flush. It may have been true, but he had forgotten he had told her that. "Ciara doesn't like me very much," he tried next.
"We both know she has really warmed up to you since you stopped her from having to go to jail. Any other excuses?" She asked, giving him the "I dare you to come up with something" look.
He shook his head. "Why don't you make that list up and I'll get right on it?"
She smiled, then kissed his cheek. "Don't worry! You'll do fine. Plus, it will be a nice chance for you and Ciara to bond before our wedding." She then went to make out the list. "Ciara can go with you."
Well, Ciara already had plans, so he ended up having to go grocery shopping himself.
So, here he was, looking for a parking spot.
The parking lot was packed. Apparently, no one likes to shop for Thanksgiving early. Everyone was a last minute Thanksgiving shopper.
He finally found a spot after searching for ten minutes. He was just about to pull in, when some jerk came in from the other side of the parking lot, and pulled into the spot so fast that the jerk's car made a loud screeching sound.
"Are you freaking kidding me right now?" Aiden yelled to his empty car.
He rolled down the window as a plump lady who looked like she had had one too many Thanksgiving dinners got out of the offending car.
"What are you, blind? Didn't you see my turn signal? I had the right away! That was my spot!" he yelled.
The woman looked at him and gave him a nasty look. "So sue me!"
"Yeah? I'm a lawyer. I just might!" He yelled to her back, which was now facing him as she headed in the store.
She flipped him off without looking back.
Aiden had to pause a moment to contain himself. He was too angry to drive. Right then, if he were to move his car before she got into the store, he would step on it and ram the witch right out of the way!
Beep!
Now some impatient idiot was beeping for him to get out of the way.
"Go around, you jerk! There's plenty of room!" he snapped.
With a sigh, he rolled up a window, then left the parking lot and parked along the street instead.
"This is ridiculous having to walk so far just to get some groceries!" he grumbled as he had to walk back up the street then over the full-length of the grocery store parking lot. He knew that the lines were going to be atrocious!
He finally got into the store. There was one cart left. He saw someone eyeing it up, so he snatched it like a puma snatching its prey. "Sorry, buddy, but not this time…" he grumbled to himself as he wheeled the cart into the main part of the store.
He took out Hope's ten-mile long list from his pocket. He sighed as he looked over the list. It would certainly take him at least a half hour to get everything.
Roman had gone with Caroline to have Thanksgiving with Kim and Shane. Aiden supposed he should just be grateful he didn't have to get enough food to feed them as well.
First thing was first. He had to get the turkey. He walked to the frozen section and looked at the turkeys they had left. Hope wanted a twelve-pound turkey. He didn't know why. There was only going to be six of them. He highly doubted they were all going to eat two pounds of turkey apiece. Hope and Claire especially wouldn't. Those two preferred to eat little potions of each thing served. It was the only way they had room in their stomachs to try everything, according to both Hope and Claire. Ciara on the other hand could pack food away. Aiden had no idea where she put it all. Shawn was a decent eater, as was he himself. Chase could eat a lot, but Aiden still didn't think they'd need twelve pounds of turkey between the six of them.
Some turkeys were cheap, but others were really pricey! He was glad that the twelve-pounders were cheaper. He grabbed the cheapest twelve-pound turkey he could find, then went onto the next item.
He made quick work of getting the stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cranberry sauce (two cans since Ciara liked the berries and Shawn liked the jelly), rolls, butter, green beans, cream of chicken soup (no one but Hope liked mushrooms), and the French-fried onions.
He also got the sodas and bottled waters. He was going to get wine at the wine store next door. He was glad it was next door because he was so not in the mood to have to try to find another parking spot.
He waited in the longest line in history, and just when he was next to be checked out, his phone rang. It was Hope.
"Hello?"
"Aiden, Baby, I didn't realize we're out of milk. I need you to get some milk. "Plus, did I put the pies on the list?"
Aiden took a deep breath before letting it out. "No, you must have forgotten to."
"Well, we can't have Thanksgiving without pies! Get one apple and one pumpkin please."
"Anything for you, Baby," Aiden said simply. He knew there was no use in arguing with her.
"Thank you." Hope made a kissing sound over the phone. "I love you."
"I love you too," he said.
They then hung up.
With a grumble, he headed out of the line to go get the stupid milk and pies.
~Thankful~
He got the milk and the apple pie, but of course, there was no pumpkin pie to be found.
This only put him in an even fouler mood.
He waited in line for twenty minutes. The line had gotten longer since his first time waiting in line…of course!
When he was finally out of the store, he then headed to the wine store. It was a pain carrying the bag holding a twelve-pound turkey in it. The other bag wasn't much lighter. However, there was no way he was making the long trek to his car any more times than he had to!
Hope had a specific kind of wine that he wanted. It was her absolute favorite. He knew right where it was and planned on going in and getting right out.
However, there was only one bottle left. Just as he went to grab it, a hand snatched it right before his eyes!
He looked up, and low and behold it was the fat witch that had taken his parking spot.
"Come on! You already took my parking spot. You're really going to take my wine too?" he complained.
She grinned. "I sure am! It will make it taste all the sweeter."
Aiden sighed. He didn't want to disappoint Hope. "I'll pay you double the money for that bottle if you give it to me."
The lady grinned the Cheshire cat grin. "Triple."
"Triple! That's robbery!" he snapped.
She shrugged, and held out an empty palm. "Supply and demand."
He set his bags down and dug into his wallet. He dug out the money. "This is all the cash I have left. I hope you're happy."
She handed him the bottle with one hand and snatched the money out of his hand with her other hand. "Very!" She then grabbed a different wine and took off with a "Happy Thanksgiving, Jerk."
"Yeah, choke on your turkey!" he snapped back. He then grabbed his bags and headed to the registers. He set his bags down again and whipped out his credit card to pay for the wine. He couldn't believe he was in total paying four times the regular price!
He put his card back into his wallet and his wallet back into his pocket.
Then he gathered his bags and began the long trek back to his car.
He put the bags in his car and shut the door. Then, as he headed around back to get to the driver's side, he saw it—a big old dent in the back of his car. He had been the victim of a hit and run. And, as if that wasn't enough, when he got to the front of the car, he saw a parking ticket. Apparently, he hadn't seen the meter that he was supposed to put money in.
He snatched the ticket out of the wipers, and yanked the car door open.
He threw himself into the car, tossed the ticket onto the passenger side, and then spent the whole drive home red-faced and grumbling up a storm.
Later that evening, when Hope got home from work, she kissed him, then went to the kitchen to inspect his findings.
"This isn't a very good brand of turkey," she said.
"I just grabbed the cheapest one I could find. "I didn't think there was a difference. Turkey is turkey, right?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I guess. It just would have been nice to have a Butterball turkey instead."
"Well, I'm sorry. It was busy, and most of the turkeys were picked through already. I just wanted to get out of there," he said.
She sighed. "I guess it will do." She looked in the freezer. "Where's the pumpkin pie?"
"I didn't get one. They only had apple," he told her.
She closed the freezer and looked at him. "Why didn't you check another store?"
"I forgot! I had other things on my mind," he said.
She shook her head. "Well, just apple pie won't do! Pumpkin pie is a tradition. We must have it! You're going to have to go back out."
Aiden took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Excuse me a minute."
He headed out of the kitchen, into the living room, and over to the couch. He then picked up a couch cushion, pressed it against his lips, and screamed as loud as he could into it.
~Thankful~
After Aiden had explained to Hope everything that had gone on, Hope had gone out and gotten the pumpkin pie herself from a different store.
Now, it was early Thanksgiving morning, and Aiden was cooking with Ciara.
He put the turkey in the oven.
"Did you take the stuffing out?" Ciara asked.
"Yeah, it's over there on the counter," he replied.
Ciara looked, then rolled her eyes. "Not the boxed stuffing. I'm talking about the bag of giblets inside the turkey. You also have to remove the neck."
Aiden looked at her funny. "Really?"
She nodded. "Really."
He wrinkled his nose. "Ew!"
Ciara rolled her eyes again. "Don't be a baby. Just take it out of the oven before it gets too hot to touch, and remove those before putting it back in the oven. I have to work on the green bean casserole."
So, Aiden put the pot holders on just in case, then took the turkey out of the oven and set it down on the counter. Then, he took off the pot holder and reached inside of the turkey until he found the hard bone of the neck.
He pulled it as hard as he could, and it came right out.
"Disgusting!" he said as he ditched it in the trash. He then reached in and took out the packet of giblets. "Ew!" He dropped it on the floor. "That is the most revolting thing I've ever seen!"
Ciara let out a frustrated cry. "If I, a girl, am not grossed out by it, then neither should you, a grown man, be." She picked the bag up and ditched it in the trash. She then washed her hands and went back to work on her casserole.
Aiden washed his hands, then put the turkey back in the oven.
"Don't forget to baste it," Ciara reminded him after a good ten minutes had passed.
He picked up the turkey baster. Then looked around. "With what?"
"The juices in the pan," Ciara said. "Gosh, Aiden, didn't your mother ever teach you how to cook?"
Aiden shook his head. "Never. I never cooked."
She shrugged. "I still think we have a better chance of not getting sick with your help than we would with Mom's help."
Aiden smirked. "True."
"You can melt some butter and use that to baste too if the juices run low," Ciara informed him.
"Done!" he said after basting it. "Now what?"
"Make the mashed potatoes," Ciara ordered.
"How do I do that?" he asked.
Ciara rolled her eyes. "Just read the instructions on the box. It's not rocket science!"
Aiden shot her a look behind her back. "You don't have to be so mean," he muttered under his breath.
Ciara either didn't hear him, or chose to ignore him.
The rest of the dinner preparation was stressful. Ciara was a real Hitler in the kitchen. But, eventually, they were able to make a nice Thanksgiving meal.
Chase and Shawn set the table, and Claire ended up coming into the kitchen to help Aiden and Ciara with the cooking and Hope had already offered to do cleanup after dinner.
Finally, everything was on the table.
Shawn said grace, Aiden carved the turkey after grace, and then they all dug in.
"You know what? This turkey is actually really good," Shawn said.
"You can thank Aiden for that one. He did all the work," Ciara said, grinning at Aiden.
Aiden smiled. "Only with your instruction."
"Well, it's great, Aiden. You listen to instruction well, apparently," Shawn said.
Aiden smiled back at him. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it."
"All these years you could have been cooking for me instead of ordering in takeout," Chase joked.
Aiden raised an eyebrow at him. "You'd still prefer takeout."
Chase nodded. "True."
They all laughed.
"All of this really is good," Claire agreed.
Ciara nodded. "Thanks, Aiden, for getting it all for us. Next year if you do it again, I'll go with you. That way if you run into any nasty cows again, I can tell them exactly where to go!"
Aiden laughed. "I'd love to see that!"
Hope smiled at Aiden and pulled him close in a side hug. She then kissed his cheek from her spot beside him. "See?" She said quietly in his ear. "I knew she'd come around." She winked.
Aiden smiled at her. "Thank you for picking up the pumpkin pie for me. I'm sorry I forgot to get it and was so grumpy earlier."
"You had every right to be! I'd have been just as annoyed as you were if the roles were reversed," she said. "And you're welcome."
They kissed.
"We need to go around saying what we're all thankful for!" Claire said. "I'll start. I'm thankful for my voice…and my mom and dad of course." She looked around the table. "And obviously for the rest of you." She grinned.
Shawn hugged her. "I'm thankful for my Claire Bear, and for having a new stepbrother. Of course I'm also always thankful for my sister and mother." He looked at Aiden. "And I'm thankful that you were able to become the man my mother needed you to be. With the exception of my father of course, I've never seen her as happy as she is with you."
Aiden smiled. "I'm thankful for all of you, and that you all were able to forgive me for all my sins of the past. I'm also thankful to have the best son a father could ask for, and two new gorgeous step kids and a step grand kid. Grand kid. Wow, I feel old!"
They all chuckled.
He turned to Hope, and I'm thankful to be marrying the love of my life. You're the most beautiful, kindest woman in the world, and I will never know what I did to be so lucky to land you."
Hope had tears of happiness in her eyes. "And I'm thankful I met you. We went through a rough patch as all couples do, but we were able to find our way back to each other. I will forever be thankful to God for that."
"Oh, Baby…" Aiden murmured.
They kissed.
"Okay, not at the table!" Ciara said. "I'll be thankful if you guys stop kissing."
Aiden and Hope broke the kiss; grins on their faces.
"I'm also thankful for my beautiful children—Chase included— and grandchild," Hope said. "Even when they get sassy." She winked at Ciara.
Claire, Shawn, and Aiden chuckled.
Ciara grinned. "And I'm thankful for the best brothers a girl could ask for." She looked at Shawn and Chase. "The best mother a girl could ask for." She blew a kiss to Hope, who pretended to catch it. "My cousin who is not only the best niece a girl could ask for, but also the best friend a girl could ask for." She and Claire smiled at each other. Lastly, she looked at Aiden, "I'm thankful for the best soon-to-be-step Dad. Shawn's right. You make mom happier than I've ever seen her since Dad. So, yes, the best soon-to-be step-dad a girl could ask for."
Aiden had tears in his eyes. "Thank you."
Ciara smiled at him and gave him a polite nod. "Yeah, well, let's not get all mushy over it."
Again, they all laughed.
"I'm thankful for the best dad ever, new step-siblings, and a wonderful friend like Claire, who is so sweet and keeps me grounded," Chase said.
"Aw, Chase! I'm thankful for you too." She got up and hugged him from behind. She kissed his cheek.
She then sat back down.
They enjoyed their rest of their meal with jokes, laughter, and just flat out enjoyable conversation.
After dessert, they sat in the living room while Claire led them in singing "We Gather Together." It was incredibly corny, but none of them minded.
When that was over, Aiden helped Hope bring the dishes to the kitchen.
"You cooked! You don't need to help," Hope said to him.
Once they had both set their handfuls of dishes down in the sink, he pulled her close. "I know, but I want to. I love you so much, Hope! I don't want to wait until our wedding to start helping you out and making your life easier."
Hope gently stroked his cheek. "I love you too. You're one of the best things that ever happened to me."
"And you're one of the best things that ever happened to me," Aiden told her.
They then kissed, loving and gentle, yet passionate.
All of Aiden's anger and frustration from earlier melted away. After all, he figured, how could he be angry when he had everything in the world to be thankful for?
They broke the kiss, and Hope took his hand and smiled. "Come on! Let's go finish with the dishes so that we can get to bed. Too much tryptophan!"
Aiden laughed. "I hear ya!"
They kissed once more, then headed back into the dining room with their heads resting against each other's, both thankful to have found the love of their lives.
~*Thankful*~
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! ;)
