Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!

A Thanksgiving chapter was also suggested by hunter hewett in June but again I waited until now to write it.


November 27, 2042

Los Angeles, California, Earth

Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday in the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu household, and for good reason. While the Calamity Moms weren't particularly thrilled with the holiday's history rooted in European colonization, that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy a nice meal and be thankful for what they had.

When Anne was growing up, her parents would close Thai Go on that special Thursday and the three of them would spend the whole day whipping up a grand feast consisting of an even blend of American Thanksgiving classics and traditional Thai food. For every serving of turkey or stuffing, there was one of pad thai or larb gai. And even the classics were made with some Asian spices to make them feel more like home.

"Putting extra spice in the food will increase your California stomach's tolerance," Oum told Anne one year.

And it worked because Anne now expects to taste chilies and turmeric when she takes a bite of turkey.

Meanwhile, when they were younger, Sasha and Marcy were secretly envious of the nice wholesome moments Anne had with her family. While Anne's Thanksgivings were warm and comforting, Sasha's were pretty lifeless just like most interactions with her parents, and Marcy's were just distant relatives talking about business and other topics she couldn't care less about as a child.

Luckily things changed once Sasha and Marcy married Anne and they adopted Sprig and Polly. Boonchuy Thanksgivings are now seven person affairs, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Oum and Bee led the kitchen well, having enough experience to prevent things from descending into chaos. By now Anne was just as good a cook as her parents and could direct everything if she wanted, but she knew to defer to them on a day like today. Together the three of them did most of the heavy duty cooking.

Sasha's a competent cook and even knows a couple of recipes of her own, but today she did exactly what Anne and her in-laws instructed her to do. Marcy and the twins' contributions were limited to mixing things in bowls and passing ingredients along. Though Oum and Bee were also teaching their grandkids cooking tips that will be useful in the future when they're allowed to truly cook.

"You have to check the turkey's internal temperature periodically," said Oum. She took the meat thermometer out of the turkey— it displayed 140°F. "The meat isn't safe to eat below 165 so we'll take it out then."

"Some people leave it in the oven until it gets that high because the temperature will actually keep rising once it's out," added Bee. "But personally we like the meat to be cooked a tiny bit more, and so do you because we've been making Thanksgiving turkeys that way for years."

"Cooking is more complicated than I thought," said Sprig.

Polly wasn't upset. "We can handle it when we're older. Definitely."

The family worked hard for nearly seven hours, but eventually the meal was complete: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, some seasoned corn, pad thai, sticky rice, larb gai, and rolls with some curry powder mixed in.

They also made a pumpkin pie, but dessert would come later. Right now it is time to feast.


The family moved the food over to the big dining table. The turkey of course went right in the center, with the other dishes surrounding it. Once the food was settled, everyone took their seats. Going clockwise around the table sat Anne, Marcy, Bee, Oum, Sprig, Polly, and Sasha.

"Everything went perfectly this year," said Anne. "But before we eat any of this we have to say what we're thankful for."

Marcy looked over at the twins. "Sprig, Polly, why don't you start?"

The twins looked at each other and immediately started playing rock paper scissors. Sprig chose paper and Polly chose rock.

"Yes! I won!" cheered Polly.

"That's not fair," said Sprig. "Rock would absolutely beat paper in a real fight."

"Paper is the most powerful!" Polly insisted. "Don't act like you haven't gotten a paper cut."

"This isn't a contest," said Sasha, ending that argument before it took off any further."

The twins both had sheepish looks in their faces. "Sorry, Mom…"

A few seconds passed before Polly grabbed Sprig's hand. "I'm thankful for my brother. Yeah, we fight sometimes but we came into this world together and we'll take it on someday." She looked up at her entire family. Sprig looked shocked while the adults had adoring looks on their faces. "I'm thankful for all of you. I don't know what I'd do without any of you. I'm thankful for the life I have and I'll never trade it for anything."

Sprig gave his sister a tight hug. "I'm thankful for you too, Pols." He held on for a minute before letting go and facing the rest of the family. "I'm thankful we have a nice home, I'm thankful the best moms in the world adopted us, and I'm thankful we have all this food!"

Anne shed some happy tears. "That was beautiful," said Anne. "I wonder how we wound up with such smart kids," she said while looking at Marcy.

Marcy could only blush at that.

Anne turned to her parents. "Mom, Dad, why don't you go next?"

Oum nodded and cleared her throat. "I've said stuff like this in the past, but I'm so thankful for everything we have now. Sprig, Polly, when I was your age I wanted to be a singer."

The twins gasped. "Really!?" exclaimed Sprig.

"Yes." Oum smiled fondly. "Unfortunately it became clear I overestimated my singing ability. I was completely lost but I met your grandfather and we left Thailand in search of the American Dream, and despite all the hardships we got a home, we brought joy to others at Thai Go, and we have such an amazing daughter who I am the most thankful for."

Anne got up out of her seat and hugged her mom. "Thanks, Mom."

Oum happily returned the hug. "You're welcome, sweetie."

Bee looked over at his wife and daughter with a loving expression. "I don't think there's anything I can say that can compete with that." He turned toward the rest of the family. "But what she said applies to all of you. We're so thankful you're part of our family and we wouldn't have it any other way."

"Thank you, Khuṇ Pū̀," said Polly.

"Yeah. Thanks, Mr. Boo— I mean Dad," said Sasha. "Even after all these years it's still kind of awkward," she muttered quietly.

Anne sat back down in her chair and looked toward her wives. "So which order are we doing this?"

"I'd like to go last," said Marcy. "If you don't mind."

"Of course, Mar-Mar," said Anne. "I think I went first last year, so it's your turn, Sash."

"Alright," said Sasha. "I used to be a bad person. I'm not proud of it, and I'm so I was able to grow and become better. I'm thankful I haven't relapsed into my old behavior. I'm thankful I have the ability to help other children who are in the same situation I was once in." She reached her hands out for her wives to grab, which they did. "And I'm thankful that I have the greatest family in the world."

"Aww. Thanks, Sash," said Anne. "I'm thankful for my family and friends giving me wisdom and giving me strength and just being there for me in general. I'm thankful that even though we drifted apart and occasionally don't see eye to eye, we always come back together in the end. I'm thankful I'm able to share my love of amphibians with the world." She suddenly got quiet. "And I'm eternally thankful I got a second chance at life…"

Sasha noticed the twins' utterly confused expressions. "We'll tell you when you're older."

The twins grumbled. They hated that there were some things about their moms' exhilarating Amphibia adventure that they weren't allowed to know yet.

"It sounds like I'm just repeating what everyone else said, but I'm also thankful for my beautiful wives and children and the wonderful memories I've made with them," said Marcy. "I'm thankful for all the anime and video games that made my childhood (and adulthood) so fun. I'm thankful that I was given a chance to help bring the greatest video game in existence into the world of animation." She took a deep breath. "I'm thankful for Leif and Dr. P and whoever's responsible for putting the music box in Thrift Stop. I know that using the box to escape my troubles was a stupid, foolish thing to do, and led to a lot of bad things, but also plenty of good things. We destroyed the Core, we made close friends." Marcy was happy she was still holding her wives' hands, since she might've violently grabbed them otherwise. "Without Amphibia we wouldn't have fixed the toxic aspects of our friendship. If we didn't do that then who knows where we'd be today? We wouldn't be happy. That's for sure."

Everyone else seated at the table gave a small round of applause.

"Now, let's eat! I'm hungry!" She quickly craved a turkey drumstick before anyone else could get any food.

There were chuckles all around as everyone began to put food on their plates.

In a sense, today's events perfectly summed up the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu family dynamic. Things are always fun, chaotic, and awkward to some degree, but in the end things always end on a heartwarming note.

And that was something to be thankful for.


Translation: Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)

(Insert Fast & Furious meme here because of how many times someone said they're thankful for family)