What Thanksgiving is Like
Wednesday morning arrived all too soon for both Jack and Kelly. Neither was looking forward to what awaited them at home. Stella had brought her own car the previous day, so that she could leave directly from 51 and go grocery shopping. Jack and Kelly stopped for breakfast, but neither had much of an appetite. Jack asked only for toast and one egg, and Kelly didn't consume much more than that. He had a knot in his gut the size of a grapefruit, and he felt sure that Jack had a similar one. He knew he would never really hurt Jack, and he hoped that Jack knew it, too, but that didn't stop him from dreading this.
As soon as they walked into the loft, Kelly headed to his bedroom, and sent Jack to his own room to wait. Jack was already on the verge of tears, and Kelly felt pretty close to them himself, but he knew that Jack most definitely needed the consistency that he and Stella had talked about yesterday. Kelly retrieved the paddle from the top of his closet and headed immediately toward Jack's room. No sense drawing this out, that was for sure.
Pulling the chair out from Jack's desk, he turned it around. "There's not really anything more to talk about, bud. Let's just get this done. Bend over and grab the chair. Try not to move, and whatever you do, don't put your hand back, okay? I don't want to hit your fingers."
Fighting tears, Jack nodded, then did as his dad had instructed. Kelly stood beside him and raised the small paddle. He made quick work, only pausing long enough between swats to make sure Jack didn't throw his hand back. Kelly gave him ten hard, sharp swats, and Jack whimpered, but held still as his father had asked him to. When he was done, Kelly tossed the paddle to the bed, pulled Jack upright, sat down, and drew his son onto his lap. Jack cried quietly for a few minutes, and then Kelly led him into the bathroom to gently wash his face.
"Jack, we're done. Clean slate. You still have to make your apologies on Monday, but other than that there's no need to discuss it further. Okay? I just want us to enjoy our holiday together. Can we do that?" Jack nodded, and Kelly nudged him back in the direction of his room. "Go take a little down time if you need to, bud. I'm not sending you to your room, just making a suggestion." Jack started toward his room, then turned back and buried his face in his father's shirt. He didn't say anything, just stood there holding on. Kelly rubbed the back of his head. "I know, bud," he whispered. "I know. It's all good now." Kelly kissed him on the top of his head and gently pushed him away. "Go on," he said. Jack just nodded once again and headed for his room. Kelly followed him in order to retrieve the paddle. Still quiet, Jack climbed onto the bed and turned to face the wall. Kelly patted his leg and left the room.
When Kelly looked in on him a few minutes later, Jack was asleep, curled up in a tight little ball. Kelly picked up a small baseball-themed throw from the end of the bed and covered him, not wanting to disturb him by pulling the comforter out from under him. He knew Jack had stewed a good bit last night and had not slept well, so a nap would likely do him some good. Once again, he patted his son gently and then quietly left the room.
Some time later, Kelly was on the sofa reading when his phone rang. It was Stella, needing help with the groceries. After a quick peek in on Jack, who was still sound asleep, he headed down to assist. When he saw all the grocery bags, he laughed, saying, "I thought it was just the three of us. Did you invite an army and not tell me?"
"I told you I wanted it to be special," she answered. "I needed all the things. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, all of it. So...I got all the things."
"Okay, okay," laughed her husband. "We will cook all the things and make a special day for our special boy. How's that?"
"Speaking of that, how is he?"
Kelly shrugged. "Okay, I guess. We took care of business as soon as we got home, and he didn't really say anything afterward. You know how he is. He's processing. Right now, he's asleep. At least he was five minutes ago."
"How about you?"
They were in the building now, and Kelly shrugged again. "I didn't like it, but I did what I thought I had to do. I felt like crying myself, but I managed not to. It was tough, I admit, because he really was pretty contrite already, but I felt like the follow-through was important, you know? Anyway, I told him clean slate, and I just wanted us to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving together. We'll see how he is when he wakes up, I guess."
It was impossible to put away all those groceries quietly, so of course Jack woke up a few minutes after they came in. He came into the kitchen bleary-eyed and yawning, and still without a word went directly to his father. Uncharacteristically these days, he put his arms up. Kelly lifted him, groaning as he did so. Holding him close, Kelly said, "Not going to be able to do this for much longer, bud."
"I know," murmured Jack. "I'm sorry, Dad."
"Hey." Kelly leaned back a bit. "Look at me. I told you, clean slate. It's all over except what you have to make right with Mr. Anderson next week. You and I are square, okay? No more apologies. It's done. Got it?"
"Got it," Jack replied, still sounding sleepy. He yawned and closed his eyes. Kelly gave him a squeeze, then took him over and set him on the sofa. "I gotta help your mom with all this food. You sit there and finish waking up."
"M'kay," mumbled Jack, then fell sideways and closed his eyes.
Kelly scrubbed the curly head and chuckled. "Or go back to sleep. Whichever."
Jack must have been truly exhausted from his mostly sleepless night the night before, because he didn't really come to until a little after noon, when he was awakened by the growling of his own stomach. He woke to find himself with his head in his dad's lap and his feet in his mom's as they watched a hockey game on TV. He was covered with a blanket. His parents didn't realize that he was awake, so he just lay there for a couple of minutes, enjoying the warmth and the closeness, before sitting up and announcing, "I'm starved."
"Yeah, so we heard," said Stella dryly. "Your stomach's been growling for half an hour. We figured it would wake you up sooner or later. Let's get you something to eat."
Stella made her famous grilled cheese for everyone, and Jack was allowed the indulgence of chips and cola to go with it. Kelly didn't love this, but a treat every now and then was okay, and it wasn't something they did often. After lunch, Jack changed into some warm, comfortable pajamas that Stella had bought him a few days earlier, when she realized that last winter's pajamas, along with almost everything else from the previous February, had been outgrown. These were two sizes bigger, and even so had little growing room. Stella put more clothing on her mental Christmas list.
Kelly built a fire, and he and Jack settled into bean bags with a chess board on the floor between them. Stella curled into the third bag with a book, and for an hour or so things were mostly quiet. After a few games of chess, Jack wanted to do something they could all do together, so they played Apples to Apples, a game which Jack found hilarious. After they played, they just lay in the bean bags chatting, with Jack asking questions about what to expect the next day. Stella did her best to explain, but finally Kelly just said, "Hey. We haven't done this before either. Not like this, anyway. Let's all just wait and see what the day brings. I do know that after dinner tonight we need to start getting some food put together for tomorrow and get the turkey set to go in the oven and all that. Otherwise we'll be having Thanksgiving dinner at midnight."
Kelly broiled steaks, baked potatoes, and steamed broccoli for dinner, and Jack ate with a hearty appetite, as usual. They all did, for that matter. They all helped with prep for Thanksgiving dinner, and then settled down with popcorn, cocoa, and a movie. Jack snuggled contentedly between his parents, eventually cuddling up against Stella. "Mom?"
"Hmm?"
"I can't wait until the adoption is final and you're my mom for real."
"Hey, buddy. I'm your mom for real already. A piece of paper won't change a thing."
Jack responded by cuddling up even closer and gazing up in utter adoration. Stella looked down in much the same manner. Watching them, Kelly thought that Stella was right. This kind of time, quiet and simple, was just what their son needed.
The Severide-Kidds woke the next morning to a world that was gray and white. "Hey!" shouted Jack, running from his room. "It's a white Thanksgiving! And it's still coming down!" As indeed it was. It snowed for most of the day, in fact, as the little family celebrated the day.
At one point, Stella commented, "I'm glad we didn't commit to going anywhere else today. I'm glad it's just us, all snug and cozy in our loft." Kelly and Jack agreed.
While the turkey cooked, the little family had a mini-marathon of Christmas movies. They started with The Santa Clause, then moved on to A Christmas Story. Jack was amused by both. Finally, it was time to prepare the sides, and the whole family worked together. Jack set the table with what he called, "the fancy stuff," and they sat down to eat together. Kelly and Stella talked as they ate, but Jack had no time for conversation. He was too busy consuming food. At one point, the table became quiet, and Jack looked up to see both his parents just looking at him and grinning. Jack grinned back and kept on eating.
When they were all stuffed to the gills, they retired to the sofa to watch White Christmas at Stella's request. Kelly didn't care for musicals himself; he said he couldn't understand why people would just suddenly start singing. But he knew that Jack would like it, because he loved music, and he was almost always willing to indulge Stella in such things. So he kept his mouth shut and slept though most of it. Jack actually fell asleep during the last few minutes, but woke up as soon as it was over to help with the clean-up. There really wasn't all that much, because they had cleaned as they cooked. With the three of them working together, the task was done in under an hour.
After that, it was time for Jack to shower and everyone to get ready for bed. Then once more to the sofa for more hot cocoa and the final movie of the night. Stella had insisted they save the best for last for Jack, so Polar Express it was. Jack was enchanted and sat mesmerized throughout, never taking his eyes off the screen. "That was awesome," he said when it was over. "That song about hot chocolate was great. I loved the way the tables just appeared when they threw down the table cloths. That was pretty creative. Can we watch it again before Christmas?"
"Of course," said his mom. "You can watch it as many times as you want."
"Yes!" said Jack. Then he looked from one parent to the other and said, "So this is what Thanksgiving is like."
"Well, for us, anyway. Not for everybody, I guess," answered his dad.
"No, that's for sure," answered Jack quietly, looking pensive. "I'm so lucky. I love you both so much." With that, he yawned widely.
Kelly just looked at him, a small smile on his face. "I think we might be the lucky ones, bud. Bed? Gotta be at the firehouse in the morning."
Jack nodded, and Kelly stood, scooped him up, and threw him over his shoulder, lightly smacking his bottom. "Dad!" Jack exclaimed, but he was giggling. Stella followed, making sure Jack brushed his teeth and so on. Then they tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. Kelly was pretty sure the kid was asleep before the light went out.