Chapter Nine/Epilogue
Ghosts of Thanksgivings Past

NOVEMBER 26TH, 2000
The Day After Mic Brumby Left

1130 EST
APARTMENT OF HARMON RABB
WASHINGTON DC

It was a new and improved Mac who knocked on the door to Harm's loft that sunny, unseasonably warm Sunday morning. Her and Jingo had indulged, sleeping in later than Mac's internal clock usually allowed. That morning, she had breakfast in bed-completely for herself. After that she laid in bed with Jingo and spent an extra hour watching trashy reality TV, with no one there to complain about it and give their unsolicited opinions.

In short, there was no Mic Brumby.

When Harm opened his door, Mac was already grinning from ear-to-ear. "Hey," he opened the door wider. "What's up with you?"

"You know what's up with me," Mac entered his loft with a little extra energy than usual, Jingo trotting after her. She turned around to face Harm. "You heard the news."

He smirked and nodded. "Indeed I did."

It didn't take long for the news of Mic and Mac's engagement ending to spread. Mac had called Harm while Mic was gathering up his belongings off the street and had told him the good news, then invited him to come over and watch. Harm had declined the invite, deciding to relish Mic's public embarrassment from the comfort of his own home. Plus he was with Renee, so he didn't think him rushing off to Mac's place when she was newly single and only wearing a sweatshirt and lingerie would look well.

However, Harm did allow himself the luxury of locking himself in his bathroom and doing a little happy dance. "How does it feel to be a free woman?" he asked, reaching down to scratch Jingo behind the ear.

Mac beamed. "It feels amazing," she replied. "It feels like a one hundred and ninety pound weight has been lifted from my shoulders."

"That's great."

Harm stood back for a moment to admire how much happier Mac looked. He'd had knots in his stomach over the past few days, worrying about how she was doing. Seeing her feeling better was enough to make the rest of his year.

Mac walked over to his window, peeking through the curtains. "Doesn't everything seem so much brighter now?"

"Yeah, it does."

"And the air-" Mac paused to inhale deeply. "It's so much...crisper."

Harm inhaled and frowned. The air was indeed crisper, but there was also the scent of some very sugary perfume. Mac's perfume was lavender (Harm knew that because she'd mentioned it, not because he was weird enough to find out on his own), so that meant it could only be one other person…

"Hello," Renee knocked on Harm's already-open door to announce herself. "I'm here!" she walked inside, a new pink purse hanging on her shoulder. It looked weighed down with something.

"Hey Renee!" Mac greeted, looking more excited to see Renee than Harm had ever seen her. However, Mac's new found freedom would make her happy to see anyone who wasn't Mic. "Did you hear the news?" she held up her left hand, which was no void of any jewelry.

Renee blinked, briefly glancing at Harm. "Yeah," she said slowly. "You're not getting married anymore. That's, that's-"

She was interrupted by something rustling inside her purse. Jingo stood up abruptly, his ears perked up with interest. A fluffy white head peeped out of the purse. Harm's eyes widened. "What's that?" he asked.

"Oh!" Renee pulled a small, white puppy out of her purse. "This is what I came to show you. I got a puppy."

"A puppy?" Harm asked in disbelief. "That? It looks more like a rat."

"He's a Bichon Frise," she corrected.

"Whatever it is, it looks like Jingo could eat it," Harm said.

"He better not!" Renee exclaimed, covering up the puppy's ears so he couldn't hear what Harm was saying.

"What's his name?" Mac asked. She was too giddy over her break up to notice the tension between the couple in front of her.

"I think you'll appreciate the irony, Mac," Renee said. She held up the puppy. "I decided to name him Mic."

Mac gasped. "That poor thing-"

"What?" Harm, cutting her off. "Renee, you can't be serious."

"Harm, it's okay," Mac told him. "I appreciate the irony."

"It's not that," Harm replied, even though he was somewhat irritated that he would have another Mic to deal with. "Renee, when were you gonna tell me we were getting a dog?"

Renee looked at him incredulously. "We?" she arched an eyebrow. "He's mine, Harm. He's my puppy."

"I thought we were a couple."

"What do you mean? Who said we weren't a couple?"

Harm shrugged, nodding towards Mic-the puppy. "A pet's a big decision. Couples discuss big decisions together."

"He's not that big," Renee held the ball of fluff out to Harm. "He weighs three pounds at most."

"I don't care. I don't want a dog, Renee!"

"He's not your dog!"

Jingo walked away from Harm and over to Mac. He sat down on her feet, looking up at her with a whine and a thump of his tail. Mac rubbed his head comfortingly.

"Oh really?" Harm folded his arms across his chest. "You say that now, but who's going to end up walking him all the time when your feet hurt? Not to mention, all of that fuzz is going to get all over my sofa-and you don't vacuum."

Renee's mouth dropped open. "I did vacuum that one time!"

Exchanging glances, Mac and Jingo slipped out of Harm's loft as quietly as they could. As she softly shut the door behind her, Mac couldn't shake the feeling that her breakup with Mic wouldn't be the only break up happening that weekend.

TWENTY FIVE YEARS LATER
Thanksgiving 2025

1700 EST
MACKENZIE-RABB RESIDENCE
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

Harm had just finished up arranging the last set of silverware at the dining room table when he caught a glimpse of headlights turning into the driveway. "Is that them?" he called. He didn't receive a verbal answer, but the sound of Mac's footsteps rushing towards the front door gave him enough of an answer. Their daughter Ellie was coming home for Thanksgiving, which was usually an exciting occasion, but this year it was different. This year Ellie had a boyfriend, and that boyfriend had parents. Instead of their usual singular guest of honor, Harm and Mac now had four, two of which they would be meeting for the first time.

Mac opened the front door just as Harm was entering the foyer. Ellie entered smiling, but Harm could immediately tell by her expression that something was off.

"Hi Mom," she greeted as she hugged Mac. From over Mac's shoulder, Ellie gave Harm a wide-eyed glance. He didn't know the details, but he knew a person trying to say "Help Me!" when he saw it.

"Hey Mr. Rabb."

Harm was distracted by the appearance of Ellie's boyfriend, Jake. Jake was….let's just say he wouldn't have been Harm's first choice to be his daughter's boyfriend. He reminded him of Dalton...and Mic...and Vukovic...basically all of the people Harm didn't like. But Harm chose to follow Mac's lead and give him a fair shot. Ellie seemed to adore him, after all.

"Hey Jake," the two of them shook hands. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Jake replied, stepping to the side. "I'd like you to meet my parents."

Standing in the doorway was a man and woman, ostensibly Jake's parents. Jake's father looked nice enough, but there was something about Jake's mother's overly critical gaze that reminded Harm of something...He couldn't quite put his finger on what, though.

Jake's father stuck his hand out. "Hi, I'm Rick. This is my wife, Lorelei."

The woman smiled, but didn't make a move to shake Harm's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ellie and Mac had stepped off to the side and were whispering intently about something he couldn't catch. Turning back to Jake's parents, Harm noticed there were three pairs of eyes staring at him instead of just two. At first glance Harm thought Lorelei was holding a fuzzy scarf or jacket, but it was actually a cat.

"Oh," Harm tried to blink back his surprise. "Who is this?"

Lorelei held up the cat, and it stared at Harm with scrutinizing yellow eyes. "It's a funny coincidence, actually. This is Ellie."

Harm heard his Ellie make a choking noise behind him. Him and Mac both froze, turning around to exchange a terrified glance. Right then, they both realized what was so familiar about the situation.

THAT SAME NIGHT

2200 LOCAL
BRUMBY RESIDENCE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

When Evan asked if he could borrow the car that night, Mic didn't think anything of it. Of course the thought was in his back of his mind, but he'd brushed it aside. It was completely irrational to think that something could go wrong. His son was a good driver., Mic taught him himself He was also responsible, more responsible than Mic had been at that age.

However, Evan's eleven o'clock curfew came and went with him not coming home. Him breaking curfew wasn't completely unheard of, but when he didn't answer any phone calls or text messages, parental alarm bells starting going off.

"Should we call the police?" Mic's wife, Lucy, asked. She kept getting up to the peek through the living room curtains to see if there was any sign of Evan coming home. There wasn't, so she gave a worried sigh and went back to pacing around the living room.

Mic wasn't pacing. He was sitting in his armchair, staring off at nothing. His mind wasn't racing like any other frantic parent's would be. Instead, his mind was stuck on one persistent thought that wouldn't leave his mind no matter how hard he tried to get rid of it. He knew there was probably a logical explanation for his son being late, but nevertheless-

"Mic, I think we should call the police," Lucy repeated. Mic jumped, finally tearing his eyes away from the random area of the wall he'd been fixating on.

"No," he said, surprised at how dry his mouth had become.

Lucy whirled around, looking at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean, no? He could be hurt-"

Mic shook his head. "He's just running late. He'll be here soon."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Lucy continued to pace and Mic continued to sit for another tense half hour until they finally heard a noise coming from outside. It wasn't the sound of a car, but the sound of footsteps. Quick, staggering footsteps walking up their walkway and then up their front steps. After the jingling of keys in the lock and the gentle creaking of the front door opening, Evan rushed into the living room with no exact idea of where he was going to go. He froze when he caught sight of his parents.

When Mic and Lucy saw their son, only Lucy was horrified by his bloody, battered appearance. Mic, on the other hand, wasn't surprised. His suspicions had just been proven correct.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Lucy rushed over to her son. He was crying, the tears streaming down his face mixing with the blood coming from the gash on his cheek.

"I-I-I was driving the car, and-and-" Evan paused to wipe the tears and blood from his vision. "I was going t-too fast and-"

Not needing to hear another word, Mic blocked out the rest of what his son was saying. He placed his head in his hands and was painfully reminded that karma was a bitch. Also, as much as he hated to do it, he knew how to take care of this issue to make it go away. After all, if his mother could do it, so could he.

That's a wrap, folks! Almost three months after the fact, my Thanksgiving story is finally done. This was such a fun story to write, I'm so glad I could make you guys laugh.

Thank you for reading!

-Harper