Thanksgiving weekend brought back the joy in the Reagan household. They bundled up and headed to the city to meet the rest of the family. When they arrived, Danny turned to the backseat to once again lay out the instructions for the day. "There's going to be a lot of people here today, so I want you to stay together. Do not wander off. Me or Mom need to be able to see you at all times. Got it?" The kids all nodded. "Also, don't forget, lots of people that we don't know, know Grandpa. He may get asked to take lots of pictures, people may want to talk to him, and some of them might even be mean. We all need to mind our manners today. Don't get frustrated if people want to talk to him and it makes us wait a minute. Understood?" They all nodded again.

"Why do people want to talk to Grandpa?" Millie asked.

"He's got an important job so a lot of people know him," Sean explained. "That's why Mr. Jim is always around."

"Ooooh will Mr. Jim be here today?" Millie asked as her eyes lit up.

"Yes," Danny continued. "But he's working today, so you can't be bothering him. You've got to sit by me and Grandpa."
"Can I tell him 'hi'?"

"Yes."
"Ok."

"Last thing. If Grandpa, me or Uncle Jamie says, 'Please don't hurt my family', what are you guys supposed to do?"
"Hit the ground," they answered in unison.

"Right. Ok. Let's go have fun." They all started to unbuckle when one more thing hit Danny. "Wait. One more thing. When you see a NYPD Officer, remember to say thank you. It's a Grandpa rule. Copy?"

"Copy," the kids all agreed. The boys had finally gotten excited and were about to jump out of their skin, as was Millie.

"What in the world are they doing?" Henry asked as all of the Reagans stood, waiting.

"I'm assuming Danny is laying down the law," Frank chuckled.

"Well he needs to hurry it up. He's already the last one here," Erin said as she whistled through her fingers and motioned for Danny to come on and join them.

They all piled out of the Jeep and made their way over to where the group was standing with big smiles on their faces.

"Hey Mr. Jim!" Millie yelled as she ran over to where Jim was standing with Frank and Henry.

"Hello, Miss Millie."

"It's about time," Erin said as Danny rolled his eyes.

"You only had one kid to get ready. I had three."

"You didn't get us ready," Sean stated, matter-of-factly, "you took a nap."

Nicki, Erin, and Linda all threw their heads back in a fit of laughter as Danny's cover was blown.

"Mil, what are you most excited to see?" Henry asked as they started walking toward their seats.

"Tom Turkey and Santa."

"Ah. Start to finish. Me too."

"What about you, Mr. Uncle Jamie?" Millie asked.

"Hmm…" Jamie looked down to her, "I like Snoopy."

"Is Ms. Officer Eddie coming?"
"I'm not sure. She may swing by later. We had to work last night so she's probably sleeping."

"Can we FaceTime her?"
"We will when we get to our seats."

"Cool."

When the Reagans made their way over to the parade route and were getting ready to sit down, Frank stopped them. "We have one job to do before we take a seat." Millie had no clue what he was talking about, but Jamie, Erin, and Danny knew exactly what was about to unfold. Frank led them over to the line of NYPD officers standing along the street. Once their eyes focused on the Commissioner, they all snapped to attention.

"As you were," Frank smiled. "We wanted to come over and thank you for your service today and every day." He shook their hands and looked to the kids.
"Thank you for keeping us safe," Nicki said as she, Jack and Sean shook their hands.

Henry looked down to Millie who was still standing there in wonder. "It's ok, Mil. Go ahead."
"Thank you!" Millie smiled as she gave each of them a hug.

"Stay safe today," Frank said before turning and leading the kids to their seats.

"Why did we do that?" Millie asked. "Did they make the floats?"
"No," Henry chuckled. "We just show our appreciation for their service. It takes a whole lot of people to make today happen and we like to make sure they know how much we appreciate it."

"Ok."

They all climbed up into the bleacher seating in front of Macy's and waited on the parade to start. Millie leaned back and looked at Jamie, who had the boys on either side of him. "Can we call Ms. Officer Eddie now?"

"Yeah, come here real quick."

Millie hopped up and crawled back to where Jamie was seated. She stood in front of him as he pulled out his phone and FaceTimed Eddie.

"Hey, Mil!"

"Hey, Ms. Officer Eddie. Are you coming to the parade today?"

"Well if I had known you were going to be there I would have come," Eddie said. "I think I'll just watch it on tv today."

"Well you could still come. Jack says it's going to be a long time before Santa gets here."

"Probably so. Are you having fun?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure it will be fun when it starts."

"Yep."
"Millie, come sit down, it's about to start," Danny instructed, looking back to where she was leaned back against Jamie.

"I got to go. Bye, Ms. Officer Eddie," she smiled with a wave.

"Bye Millie," Eddie waved back.

"Have you even gotten out of bed yet?" Jamie asked as he held Millie's hand to steady her as she climbed back down the bleachers to her seat in between Danny and Frank.

"I'm awake, yet not quite motivated enough to move," Eddie smiled.

"Your mom coming over for Thanksgiving?"
"I'm going to her house. I didn't want to clean my apartment." Eddie looked at her watch. "I guess I really should start making my way over there. Is traffic a nightmare?"

"It's Thanksgiving in New York City. What do you think?
"Ugh! Bye. Have fun today."
"You too. Bye."

Millie was on the edge of her seat from Tom Turkey all the way to Santa. The wind was blowing a bit so the balloons were kept low to the ground, increasing in the excitement of the Reagan kids.

Frank had been to the parade more times than he could count in his life, but he couldn't remember a time that he'd enjoyed it more than watching his grandkids light up each time a balloon flew overhead. When they finally got to the end of the parade and got to see Santa, they were both cold and overjoyed. It was a wonderful day, topped off with Millie's favorite guy in red.

"Millie, grab a hand," Danny instructed as they all stood up and packed up their gear before heading to the car. "Sean, Jack, get where I can see you." Millie looked around and reached for Linda's hand as they made their way through the crowd. When they finally made it back to their vehicles and Jim had gotten Frank into the SUV, Millie finally got her chance to hug her second favorite detective, next to Danny.

"Did you have fun, Mr. Jim?"
"Sure did, Mil. How about you?"

"I did. I liked Santa. What was your favorite part?"
"I like the Sesame Street float. It's always my favorite. I'm a big fan of Big Bird."

"Oh yeah. That was awesome! I like Oscar the Trash Can."

"Let's go, Mil," Danny said as he stood at the backdoor of the Jeep. "We've got to go so Mr. Jim can get home for Thanksgiving dinner."

"Bye, Mr. Jim," Millie smiled with a hug. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"You too, Millie."

While Linda, Erin, and Henry cooked dinner, the rest of the family went out back and played a game of football. Danny, Nicki, and Sean played Jamie, Millie, and Jack. It was muddy, messy, and tons of fun. That night, the Reagans sat down to a Thanksgiving feast. "Who wants to start?" Frank asked.

"I'll go," Nicki said. "I'm thankful Dad came to town and took me to the concert in the garden."

"I'm thankful for a 97% conviction rate this year," Erin smiled.

"I'm thankful that we didn't lose a single officer in the line of duty this year," Frank sighed.

"I'm thankful for my kids," Linda smiled. "All of my kids."
"You said that last year!" they all pointed out.

"I'm thankful my kids are healthy."
"Boooo! You said that the year before," they all kidded her.

Linda rolled her eyes, exasperated. "And I'm thankful this only happens once a year."

"Millie, your turn," Frank said.

"I'm thankful for…" Millie tapped her fingers on the side of her chin. "Mr. Jim…. And Phil and Gus."

Danny chuckled. "I'm thankful for outshooting both my brother and my sister at the shooting range last week." Erin and Jamie both rolled their eyes as Danny fist pumped into the air.

"I'm thankful only two and a half weeks until Christmas break," Sean sighed.

"I'm thankful Ella Stevens is my partner for our semester project," Jack grinned as the family elicited a few giggles.

"And I'm thankful what I'm always thankful for," Pop said. "Another year of being patriarch of this family."

After dinner, the kids pulled Frank's Christmas decorations out of the basement and began putting up the tree. They worked for an hour or so before Danny deemed it time for them all to go home.

"But it's not finished," Sean protested. We just got the tree up… it's not decorated yet."
"You can finish Sunday. It's late and we need to get home and get showers and get to bed. Say goodbye to everyone."

Millie and Sean were sound asleep about two minutes after they left Frank's driveway. By the time Danny arrived in Staten Island, he was the only one that was still awake. The turkey coma had hit his family hard. He chuckled as he parked the car and looked at the four of them sleeping so soundly.

"Hey Babe," he whispered as he leaned over and kissed Linda. "We're home."
"Hmmmm?"

"We're home," Danny said again as he opened his door and the cool air flooded into the car. "Come on. The quicker we get the kids in bed, the quicker you and I get in bed." Linda stretched before getting out to walk a very sleepy Jack and Sean inside as Danny picked up the sleeping Millie and carried her inside.

"Run upstairs and get a shower real quick," Linda told the boys. "One of you go to your bathroom and the other can go to mine and Daddy's."

"What about this one?" Danny asked.

"She's got to have a bath. Let them get theirs and I'll take her up in a minute."

"Ok." Danny took a seat in his recliner as Millie slept soundly on his shoulder. He watched about fifteen minutes of the evening news before Linda came down to get her. "Hey, Mil. Wake up and go with Aunt Linda to get a bath." Millie groaned as she squeezed her eyes closed and tightened her grip on Danny. He chuckled as he patted her back with his right hand as he pushed her hair out of her face with his left. "Mil… wake up."

"I'm sleepy!" Millie whined.

"I know. But the quicker you get up and get your bath, the quicker you can get back to sleep."

"Nu uh."

"Is this bath necessary?" Danny asked, looking to Linda.

"Yes. They played football in the mud in the backyard. 100% Yes."

"Ok, plan two. I'll carry her up and dump her in the bath for you. Sound good?"

"Sounds good. I'll go run the water."