Author's Note: This took longer to get updated than I wanted it to, but once I started writing it, it just kept flowing. Now, I know that so far each holiday has had two chapters. I really feel that this chapter on Thanksgiving works with just one, but I'll understand if you all want to maybe read something involving the VKs when they're at home with their new families. If you do, just let me know in the comments or PM me. If enough people request it, I'll do that as the next chapter before starting the Christmas chapters.
As always, please enjoy...
"So why do we get the whole week off for Thanksgiving?" Carlos asked as he and the other VKs and their friends were sitting down to lunch a week before Auradon Prep let out for the aforementioned Thanksgiving Break.
"Because it's easier than just having the last two days out of the week off," Jane answered him. "At least that's what Mom told me when I asked that," she added as gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She giggled as she watched him blush.
"But we're not allowed to stay on campus?" Mal inquired. Ben shook his head along with Jane.
"Campus is effectively closed for the week," he told her. "Why?"
"I was just wondering. I mean, if school is closed, then that means we all have to go home, right?" she asked. Ben nodded. Mal's face dropped just a little bit. "Which means that you have to leave," she said to Evie.
"What do you mean?" Evie asked her.
"You're going to have to go to Snow's, which is all the way on the other side of the kingdom," Mal said almost angrily.
"Are you upset that I'm not going to be here for Thanksgiving?" Evie asked.
Mal didn't answer, but it was clear to everyone that Evie had deduced correctly. It was quite the surprise for the gathered students, but not for Evie. The blue-haired girl knew that Mal was not a real fan of the distance that Snow White's kingdom forced between the two of them. Ever since they become friends – and eventually sisters – back on the Isle, they'd been practically inseparable. But when they'd all been sent to live with their new respective families, Evie was the one that seemed to be at the disadvantage due to where Snow White lived.
The rest of them lived with families that all lived here in Auradon City while Snow lived in Charmington. And while it wasn't all the way on the other side of the kingdom like Mal exaggerated, it wasn't all that close either. By car it was a little over three hours away. Or, if you decided to bend the rules like Mal and Jane, a couple of seconds if you used a spell to teleport. But Snow was insisting that she and Raymond fly home this time to cut the time down.
"M, Snow's really got her heart set on me being there. She…"
"Wants you there so her whole family can be there," Mal finished for her. "I know, but…I just figured we could all see each other during the break. But you're gonna be so far away that…," Mal trailed off.
The table grew silent for a little bit as everyone processed the exchange they'd just heard. It was obvious to them that the thought of Evie not being around was affecting Mal, who surely wanted her best friend to be with her. What they didn't know was that it was deeper than that. The sudden stability that came with living with Fairy Godmother and Jane had caused Mal to begin clinging to her friends even more because she realized that they weren't just friends, they were family, too.
"It's not like we won't video chat," Evie told her gently.
"It's not the same," Mal told her. "This is our first real family holiday together and I thought…I just figured…"
"We could all be together," Evie finished. Mal nodded. "We'll think of something," the blue-nette told her friend.
"So, you'd like me to allow you to do what?" Fairy Godmother asked as she looked at Evie who sat on the other side of her office desk.
"I need to use the school's kitchen," Evie repeated politely.
That's what I thought I heard, Fairy Godmother thought. Just a few minutes ago, Evie she had been informed by her secretary that a student was asking to speak with her. She walked out to greet the student she was surprised to see Evie sitting patiently.
"Evie? Is everything alright?" she asked as Evie stood up to meet her. "Nothing's wrong I hope?"
"No, everything's okay – mostly," she answered. Her answer caused some concern for the headmistress, and Fairy Godmother quickly ushered her into her office. Once there, Evie began telling her what was going on with Mal. Fairy Godmother immediately wanted to call her oldest in and find out what she could do to help when she reminded herself that Evie was probably here without Mal's knowledge.
"And what do you hope to accomplish by using the kitchen?" Fairy Godmother inquired.
"A family dinner," Evie smiled.
Fairy Godmother looked at the young woman in front of her and smiled warmly. This small group of children never stops amazing me, she thought.
"Evie, can I ask you something?" Evie nodded. "For lack of a better term, when it comes to you Isle children, you're the mom of the group aren't you?"
"It feels like it sometimes," Evie smiled and laughed.
Fairy Godmother chucked and leaned in. "I'll be honest, I don't have a problem with you doing this, but I do need to let you know that there will be a few conditions." Evie looked back at Mal's surrogate mother anxiously. "First off, if I let you do this, I'll actually let you use one of the auxiliary kitchens. We use them mostly to help out the staff when there's a special occasion and the food needs are just a little more than the main kitchen can handle. They're smaller, and should make sure that you're not in the way of the kitchen staff as they cook for the rest of the students. Second, and most important to me, this isn't going to interfere with any exams you might still need to take, is it?"
Evie shook her head.
"No ma'am," she answered. "So I'd have time to do this, I asked my teachers if I could take my midterms early before and after school. Finished the last one yesterday. My teachers even said I could miss last few days because of it."
I wish some of the other students showed this kind of initiative, Fairy Godmother thought.
"Well then, I see no problem with you doing this. Although, don't be surprised if I pop in on you every now and then to make sure you're not overwhelmed."
"No problem, and thank you," Evie said with her usual beaming smile.
Raymond was lying on his bed in his dorm room, playing a game on his phone, bored since his afternoon classes were cancelled due to the teachers not having a midterm. His roommate was at his desk, typing furiously away on his laptop, trying to finish a paper for one of his classes. His character had just died and he was about to restart the game when he heard a knocking on the door. He got up and answered it, surprised to see Evie standing on the other side.
"Hi, Ray," Evie said cheerfully.
"Hey," he greeted, his mood perking up a little bit. "What are you doing here?"
"I need a favor," she answered him. "I think you told me that you don't have any classes for the rest of the day, right?" He nodded. "Cool, I'm gonna need you to help me with a surprise I'm putting together."
"Are you actuallfy talking to girl?" Raymond's roommate came up to the door saying before Raymond could respond to Evie. "Oh my God it's you," the chubby glasses wearing boy said, his eyes widening in shock.
"Hey, Bart," Evie said as she saw Bashful 's youngest son.
"Um…uh…hi," Bart stuttered, finishing off with an awkward wave. "I…I need to finish my report," he added quickly before darting back into the room.
"Is he okay?" Evie asked in concern. "He's not afraid of me, is he?" she added apprehensively, knowing that there were a few people who still looked at her and her friends with some…nervousness.
"Afraid? Try totally in love with," Raymond answered her. "He just doesn't know how to handle the actual sight of you so close," he added. Evie started giggling, finding the idea of one of Doug's younger cousins having a crush on her adorable. "So what favor do you need?"
"You're going to help me cook."
"Say what now?" he asked like he'd just heard his aunt speaking gibberish.
"I'm putting together a dinner and I need some help. I want it to be a surprise, and you're the person who it would hurt the least to know about it."
"Do I have a choice?"
"Bart, I'm gonna borrow Ray for a couple of hours," she shouted into the room before grabbing Raymond's hand and dragging him off.
I guess this means I don't have a choice, he thought.
"Do any of you know what's going on?" Mal asked as she and Ben, Jay and Audrey, Carlos and Jane, and Doug made their way to one of the dining hall's private dining rooms.
"I hope it has to do with why she made us all skip dinner," Carlos complained.
"Stop complaining," Jay told him roughly.
"You'll have to forgive him," Jane stepped in, "he's a little cranky since he hasn't eaten. I told you to have some of my grapes."
"They weren't going to be enough," he muttered.
"Well, we're here, so hopefully we can get some food in you – and Jay," Audrey said. "He's been the same way."
When the group got to the doors, they knocked and waited. No one answered, so Mal knocked harder a second time. A few seconds later, Raymond answered. "Hey guys," he said happily. "Thanks for coming, and I hope you brought your appetites," he said as he opened the doors all the way to make it easier for all of them to get through.
Upon entering, all of them became speechless at the sight before them. There was a large rectangular table with more than enough room for all of them. The table had white to tablecloth with nine place settings and a simple centerpiece of mini pumpkins, some fall flowers, and candles.
"Whoa," Carlos whispered.
"What the…?" Mal said in shock.
"I know, Evie really outdid herself," Raymond confirmed.
"Evie did all this?" Audrey asked, not completely believing it. Raymond nodded.
"Happy Thanksgiving everybody," Evie practically sang as she came out from the back area where she was doing some final preparations.
"Thanksgiving?" Mal asked, still in disbelief.
"But it's not until next Thursday," Jay pointed out.
"I know, but…," the blue-haired girl said, trailing off. "I just thought, since we're all going to be separated on that day, that maybe, we could have one with just us before we leave."
She was talking to all of them, but it was lost on no one that she was looking at Mal. On her end, Mal didn't know what to think. She still wasn't a fan of Evie leaving, but she was amazed that her friend had thought of this. Amazed, but not surprised. Evie always seemed to know what to do to make any of them feel better and this…this made the temporary separation feel easier to handle.
"Just how much of typical Thanksgiving dinner did you make?" Doug asked.
"I hope you're all hungry," Evie smiled and motioned for Raymond to follow her to the back. She also waved Ben, Jay, and Carlos to help as well. A moment later, Mal, Audrey, and Jane watched as she and the boys came out with stuffing, potatoes, yams, a casserole, cranberry sauce, and last, but certainly not least, a medium-sized turkey.
"Oh my God," Jane gasped out loud as she watched them place the food on the table. "You made all this? By yourself?"
Evie nodded. "Well, Raymond helped with some of it," she answered.
"I mostly stirred and chopped," Raymond confessed. "The cooking was all her."
Evie blushed at the attention, a rare action for the young blue-nette. Before anyone else could make a bigger deal of what she had done, and not wanting the food to get cold, she ushered everyone into chairs, making sure that Ben was at the table's head. He said the grace and then she had Mal have him carve the turkey.
Once everyone had their plates put together, Ben asked them all to hold off on eating for a second.
"If we're going to do this, we should do it right," he started. He then began looking across the table at the VKs. "Since this is your first Thanksgiving, I think we should do something that we always do at the palace with my family – and I'm fairly certain is done at your new homes. I think we should go around and say one thing we're thankful for."
"Can't we just start eating?" Carlos asked impatiently. He let out a groan when he felt Jane kick him from under the table. "What? I haven't eaten all day," he complained to his girlfriend.
"Waiting a few more minutes won't starve you to death," she chastised him.
"Fine," he relented.
"Thanks, Carlos," Ben chuckled. "I'll start. I'm thankful for knowing that all of you are my friends. When you're in my position, there are times when you don't know whether someone is your friend because of you, or because of the crown. But with all of you, I don't worry about that anymore."
The table was silent for a few seconds after Ben's revelation. No one knew who should go next, but Mal figured maybe she should, to keep things from being quiet for too long.
"I guess we should just go down the line," Mal started as she cleared her throat. "Um…I guess I'm kind of thankful for the same thing – almost. Back on the Isle, you find a crew or you don't last very long, but you always remind yourself not to get too close because you know that once something better comes along, they'll probably ditch you for it. But me, Evie, Jay, and Carlos all found something better, and…and we stayed friends. We're actually closer now," she said, trying not to cry at the end.
All eyes went to Jay who was seated next to Mal.
"I'm just glad that I finally feel like I finally fit in somewhere that I don't have to steal to survive," he said. Everyone looked at him, waiting for more. "What? I like to keep things simple," he grinned.
There were a few groans, some laughs and chuckles, even an eye roll from Evie, but everyone accepted the submitted response.
"I guess that makes me next then," Audrey said. She stayed quiet for a second, gathering her thoughts. "Thanks for putting up with me, all of you," she began. "I know I wasn't the easiest person to get along with – or be around – but, you all kept me around and I just wanted to say thank you for that."
Jay put his arm around her and pulled her into him. He kissed her on the head and she leaned into him, choosing to stay there until everyone was done.
"Carlos, you're up," Evie told him.
"Uh," he stuttered, looking around the table. He didn't know that this might happen, and therefore had no clue what to say. "Can we just skip me?"
There was a chorus of no's and "you're not getting out of this". He felt Jane grab his hand and give it a light squeeze. "You'll be okay," she told him because she knew where his nervousness was coming from.
Mal, Evie, and Audrey looked at each and smiled. They didn't say anything too each other, but their knowing smiles to each other let them know that all three of them were fighting back the urge to go "awww". As cute as all three of them found the two fourteen year olds, they didn't want to embarrass them, especially Carlos who was obviously having some trouble at the moment.
"If I have to say something, then um, I guess I would have to say that, I'm glad I didn't have to do this alone. Being Auradon by myself," he clarified at the end. "I don't think I could've handled it if I'd had to."
There we're a few soft smiles and a proud smile from Jane at her boyfriend. She leaned into him and moved toward his ear. "I told you that you could do it," she whispered and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. This time Mal, Evie, and Audrey didn't hold back their gushing. There was laughter as both teenagers began to blush at the attention.
"Okay, it's your turn now, babe," Carlos told her cheekily.
Jane looked around the table and then took a deep breath. "I…I didn't really have a lot of friends. I mean, I had some, but I always felt like I didn't really belong with them. Now…now I know that I have people who make me feel like they're not just keeping me around because…well, it's just nice to have friends."
"Ray, hurry it up before things get any sappier," Jay demanded.
"You need to get more in touch with your feelings," Audrey told him. Jay waved her off gently.
"Considering that this place kind scared me when I first got here, I'm kind of grateful that I had Evie to keep me from getting lost, and from looking stupid," he said in a moment of light-hearted self-deprecation. The group started laughing, feeling the mood lighten just a little.
"Almost done," Mal said. "Doug, you're up."
"At the risk of sounding like Ray, I'm thankful for the same thing – her," Doug said with a warm, heartfelt glance at his girlfriend. Evie smiled back, already feeling her eyes begin to water. "I won't lie, when you guys first got here, I was a little nervous about you all. Then I met Evie, and spent time with her, and found out how smart, and sensitive, and warm she is and I started thinking that maybe where you all are from isn't who you are. Thank you, Evie."
Evie was in full blown tears after listening to her boyfriend. He handed her a napkin to use a tissue. She sobbed a thank you and then dabbed away her tears before kissing him.
"Do you want to skip your turn, E?" Mal asked softly. "After all, making the dinner, getting us all here, we'd –" Mal stopped when Evie started shaking her head. Evie took a few deep breaths and wiped away the last of her tears.
"It's okay, I can do it," she said. She took one last deep breath and composed herself as best she could. She then looked over at Mal. "Thank you for becoming my friend…and my sister."
It was a simple statement, but everyone gathered knew that it held so much emotion and memory behind it that no more needed to be said. Mal teared up but was able to hold herself together. She nodded at her friend, the gesture understating the strong bond between the two Isle girls.
After a moment of letting all the things that had been said sink in, the group began eating. As they ate, the conversation started, and soon the laughing began. Eventually, before any of then realized it, the meal had gone from simply a surprise put together to make someone feel less anxiety over being separated to what Evie had called it in Fairy Godmother's office – a family dinner.