Title: Stopping For a Beer on a Thanksgiving Eve

Author: Tinkerbell99

Rating: T

Disclaimer: The characters are not my creation, they belong to someone else.

Spoiler: 17 People, minor others

A/N: Thanks to those reading and reviewing. I'm having a blast writing!

Chapter 4: The Familial Loop

From my position hovering above the toilet, I soon hear footsteps approaching in the hallway. I didn't see much beside Freeride in the kitchen, but I gather that my mother was somewhere in attendance. I just didn't think she could make it up the stairs that fast.

"Donna? You alright in there? I need to get in the shower pretty soon and...wow. What happened to you?" Instead of my mother, it's my little sister who is soon hit with the full glory of my current appearance.

Terri is 19 and a sophomore at UW. She was a freshman in high school when I left town, but I've missed a lot in the last five years. Actually, it would appear that I've missed a lot in the last five months and possibly the last five minutes, but that's beside the point. Terri's always been a sweetheart, and looking at her now makes me regret I wasn't around more to watch her growing up. Unlike her big sister, she's always known what she wanted to do with her life. Don't let the purple streak in her hair fool you. One day she's going to make a wonderful teacher.

"I'm fine. I just…ate some bad shrimp yesterday."

From my vantage point in the toilet bowl, I see Terri raise one eyebrow and cross her arms. She's already perfecting her "Don't tell me the hamster peed on your homework" look. It's really quite effective.

"Fine! I had too much to drink last night. Are you happy now? Use this as a lesson. Hangovers suck."

"Little late for that warning, sis. And you forget, I was around for your senior year of high school." Met with a blank stare, she continues. "You got "food poisoning" three Saturday nights in a row? You blamed it on that seafood place downtown until Dad threatened to shutit down?"

Oh, yeah.

In spite of myself I have to laugh. My parents were quite possibly the most sheltered adults in the city, and I always intended to keep it that way. It worked, too, at least until I attempted a fourth Saturday in a row. Leaning back against the tub, I take a look at my sister and realize she isn't quite the innocent little girl I left behind either. Well, if I'm not going to get answers out of the rest of my family, maybe I can get them out of her.

"Terri, what do you know about Eric and Suzanne?" At this, she looks distinctly uncomfortable.

So apparently there is an "Eric and Suzanne."

"Umm…Did mom talk to you?" I shake my head. "I mean, I know she wanted to last night, but then you left and she never got a chance." Terri stops, looking suddenly pale. "Maybe it's better if she tells you."

It is at this point I realize that working around Josh, Toby, and less-than-forthcoming Republicans has served me well. I can pull the rage with the best of them.

"Terri, somebody needs to tell me and they need to tell me now and if you won't tell me then so help me God I'm getting back in my car and going to the airport and quite possibly running over all the people who will not tell me along the way!" To emphasize my point I attempt to get up, but, as I only succeed in whacking my knee against the toilet, I don't get very far.

"Damn!" Another bruise joins the bunch.

"Terri, why don't you go downstairs and find your father. Tell him we need wine for dinner and send him to the store." With that, mom enters the room. Terri takes off like the hounds are after her and I focus the assault on my mother.

"What the hell is going on around here? Why is he in the kitchen? Is he coming to dinner? His card is next to Suzanne's. Are they together? Is Layla his? Did you know he asked me out? Why didn't you tell me any of this? Is he still downstairs? Why was the-"

"Donna, relax." She takes a seat on the edge of the tub above me and smoothes my hair back from my face. "Eric left a few minutes ago. He feels awful about what just happened. It's my fault, really. I asked him to drop off a mixer for the potatoes. I thought I would have had a chance to talk to you by nowand I never dreamed you'd make such a sudden…appearance." She says this as she takes in my rather bedraggled one.

"But why was he here in the first place?" This comes out in much more of a teary-eyed whine than I'd intended, but there comes a point where frustration takes over and polite conversation ends. It earns me a pitied look and a patronizing voice.

"Eric and Suzanne started dating about six months ago. He's coming to dinner because he is seeing Suzanne. You gave such short notice when you were coming home this timethat he was already invited."

My mind is spinning.

Dr. Freeride is dating my cousin.

I'm going to spend my Thanksgiving Day with my ex-boyfriend most likely all over a relative I can barely stand. The same ex-boyfriend asked me out not ten hours ago. They've been seeing each other for six months. If they've been seeing each other for six months, then…

I do some fast math.

"So Layla isn't his?"

My mother shakes her head as she pulls the hair off my neck and dampens a cloth.

"No, Layla isn't his."

My relief at the knowledge that Eric hasn't reproduced does more to stop the throbbing in my temples than all four aspirin and the cold cloth combined. Still, I've got questions.

"Why didn't anybody tell me about this?"

"Donna, you know how Suzanne is. No one expected them to last more than a week. Nine days at the most." She laughs lightly and picks at invisible lint on her sharply pressed pants. "I could barely believe it when I heard it myself. There really wasn't any point in getting you upset over something so small. We all thought it would be over before it even began."

I bite my tongue at the urge to insist I be informed of every occurrence in this family be it large, small, or in-between for the remainder of my life. It wouldn't do any good anyway.

As much as I'm angry about being left out of the familial loop, I know that I do the same thing to them. Rosslyn, the MS, Zoey…my family found out about all of that on the news. Sniper fire at the White House? ABC. Chemicals in the air system? There were some nice shots of me wearing a modified gas mask on CNN. My grandmother is thrilled when I wear the sweaters she sends me. She sees them on C-SPAN. The communication barrier works both ways.

"Now," Mom starts to get up. "Why don't you get yourself cleaned up and come sit in the kitchen for a while. I'll make you some dry toast and find the ginger ale. Great for a hangover." With a wink, she heads for the door.

Food poisoning won't even work for me today.

"Mom?" There's one more thing I need to know before she goes. My mother is not a packrat. In fact, she is extremely fond of spring cleaning, winter cleaning, and just plain throw-it-out-if-we-haven't-used-it-lately cleaning. Keeping a useless piece of paper for five years is a little out of character, to say the least.

"Why do you still have his place card?"

She leans against the door and sighs. When she speaks, she won't quite meet my eyes. "The first time you left, I didn't understand it. No one did. You and Eric seemed so happy…and then one day you were just gone." She pauses and takes a deep breath, staring into the hallway before refocusing. "When you came back..." Here she smiles. "I was so thrilled. Eric was back in your life and you were here, at least for a while." Her smile fades. "I guess I always thought that if I held onto that card, it would be ready if you changed your mind and came back again…even if he was the reason. I just wanted you here."

Oh.

"I'm so proud of you, Donna. But I've never stopped missing you, either."

The door shuts softly behind her.

My tears mingle with the warm water of the shower.

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Three hours later, I'm a girl with a plan.

I've got some questions for my dear ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. If I am to be subjected to the dinner from hell, I'm at least going to have a few choice words first.

But before all that, I can't be forgetting my manners, now can I?

When the doorbell rings, I check my hair and makeup one more time.

I put on my best and brightest smile.

I grab refreshments from the kitchen and swing open the front door.

"Beer, Eric?"

I am so ready for this.