NOVEMBER 1st
The next morning, Lionel was the first one awake, and went to wash out the taste of his own mouth. Thor groaned as he rolled over a bit.
Cherry muttered sleepily before her eyes slowly opened up. "Ugh... I think I ate too much chocolate..." she then mumbled before holding her head, then went to get some aspirin before falling on Thor. "Whup!"
"Ugh! Careful!" Thor groaned as that woke him up before he looked around. "Guess I forgot to go home again last night."
"Ah, you're fine," Lionel told him as he emerged from the bathroom. "You got tired, so you slept over. No problem."
"I didn't do anything weird, did I?" Thor asked.
"No, you're fine," Cherry reassured. "We saw Atticus and Mo after trick-or-treating, then we came here for a Halloween cartoon marathon. It's all good."
"Good..." Thor nodded before checking the date on his phone. "Well, this month is Turkey Month. What should we do?" he then asked.
"Eh... Probably just having dinner and watching the parade," Cherry shrugged before taking some aspirin to relax herself a little before checking the fridge. "...Though today we have leftover Chinese food."
"Yee-ha!" Lionel exclaimed. "That is AWESOMENESS!"
Cherry looked curious about the Chinese food leftovers before shrugging as she began to take it and get it out for them to have for a little brunch.
"They got our favorites?" Thor asked.
"Looks like it," Cherry said before checking a note. "'Got this while I was out last night. We'll talk later about how your Halloween was. Enjoy'," she then read aloud before smirking as she dished out the food. "Thanks, Uncle Bruce~"
Lionel and Thor soon sat down with Cherry and they ate their leftover Chinese food that was there after they had their trick-or-treating adventures while Bruce had his misadventures in downtown Gotham City as Batman and all.
"Ah... this tastes awesome." Lionel grinned.
"Can I have thirds?" Thor asked hopefully.
"Why don't you finish your first plate first?" Cherry snarked before laughing.
"Why, I oughta..." Thor began to playfully threaten.
Bruce soon stumbled into the kitchen to get himself some coffee.
"Uh, hey," Cherry spoke up to him. "Thanks for the leftover Chinese take-out."
"...I thought you guys would like that," Bruce replied, slightly grumbling. "It was a very busy night last night."
"I can only imagine." Lionel smiled back with a nod.
"You kids have fun last night?" Bruce asked.
"For the most part, yeah," Cherry nodded. "It's just a shame that Sabrina couldn't be here this year."
"Oh... I wouldn't worry about her," Bruce told them. "You said she'd be happier where she is right now anyway."
"I know... But I still miss her at times," Cherry said. "We really connected decently when we first met each other, even if the circumstances were a bit grave." she then shuddered a bit about one of their darker and even more graphic adventures further down the road.
"Well, who knows?" inquired Lionel as he licked the carton clean. "I think we're gonna hear about her sometime soon..."
"Sorry, guys... I just miss her so much right now." Cherry sighed.
Thor pouted a little before he gently patted Cherry on the back in comfort.
"Oh... Thanks, buddy..." Cherry said before sniffling and smiling sadly. "I'm glad she found her own happy ending, but it just feels weird to not have her around anymore."
"I think Lionel could be right," Thor soon replied as he smiled back in comfort. "Crazier things have happened... Especially that time with The Teen Titans."
"Aye-aye," Lionel saluted. "She's gonna be all right."
"Don't worry about your friend," Bruce told Cherry a bit fatherly. "Any plans or ideas for college at least?"
"Eh... I'll probably be an intern somewhere," Cherry shrugged. "Maybe I'll get to sell a book if I'm creative or talented enough for a story idea."
"You could definitely do that," Lionel responded. "Personally, I'm just gonna try and make ends meet with jobs. I'm gonna use my magic a little, but in unnoticeable ways to make it a bit easier."
"Having job experience is important while becoming an adult," Thor nodded. "Lots of young witches and warlocks back home look into getting summer jobs, though some are usually just trying to suck up whenever they try to go to Enchantra for work."
"Sounds like a suck-up position," Cherry smirked as she bit into her sweet and sour chicken with glee. "I do suggest you use magic, but be very careful with it. Your powers can be a bit... Surprising to folks around here." she then told Lionel.
"Oh, I'm aware." Lionel nodded.
"Good boy," Cherry nodded before looking over at Bruce. "Are we going somewhere for Thanksgiving this year?"
"No, I believe we'll be right here," Bruce replied. "I'm not even sure where we would go if we did travel."
"Fine by me," Cherry said before turning around. "I think Atticus said he was probably gonna go to Thanksgiving at Clark Kent's parents' house this year since they're like his grandparents even after we found out about his birth parents."
"Besides, we might as well keep it simple here," Lionel responded as he finished his Chinese. "And what's more simple than staying at home for Thanksgiving?"
Thor soon suddenly hiccuped before deciding to get some juice boxes to quench his thirst.
"Yeah, that's a pretty good idea," Cherry nodded to Lionel. "We'll see him when we can though. I know how much having grandparents means to him since he never met his own."
"Well, that sounds like a good idea for you all either way," Bruce nodded. "I just want you all to be careful. I had a long night last night, so it feels like our little Bat Family is going to have their hands full for quite a while."
Cherry soon swallowed her last piece of chicken rather thickly, gulping a bit. "Well, in that case, I'm gonna need a friggin' drink." she then groaned before rubbing her head, feeling exhausted and annoyed already.
Thor then came back, firmly planting one of the juice boxes with a straw already inside on Cherry's side of the table with a stern nod.
"...What is this?" Cherry asked.
"You said you needed a drink, so there's your drink," Thor reminded rather sternly. "No more alcohol for you until you're 21 unless you wanna learn a long and painful lesson again."
"Agreed," Lionel nodded. "You may as well get pretend-drunk until you're old enough to be real-drunk."
"Oh... Okay, fine..." Cherry said before she took the juice box and took a sip.
"That's better~" Thor grinned in approval then.
"Just make sure when you get your homework from school to get it done as soon as possible," Bruce told them. "Like I've said before, I'm pretty sure that we're all going to have our hands full for a while."
"We will." Cherry, Lionel, and Thor reassured.
"And Cherry? Stay away from the booze," Bruce then added, quite sternly. "We don't want a repeat from the last school semester."
"All right. All right." Cherry rolled her eyes slightly as she sipped her juice.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure to keep out of trouble." Lionel gave a salute and a nod.
"See that you do." Bruce nodded while getting his own breakfast and walked away.
Cherry, Lionel, and Thor watched him go before they then looked at each other.
"So what do you guys wanna do?" Cherry asked.
"Shouldn't we be in school by now?" Thor replied.
"No, I don't think so," Cherry said. "I guess we'll just get ready for Thanksgiving... That should be a good break," she then added. "Two days of school during the week and then getting the rest of the week off after Tuesday afternoon."
"Hurrah!" Lionel declared triumphantly. "In that case, I'm going to go sit and watch television!"
"And I'll join you!" Cherry added before looking at Thor. "You want in on this?"
"Hmm..." Thor paused thoughtfully before looking at the time and then looked back at the two as he sipped his juice box. "I'll stay for a couple of hours, then I should probably get back home."
"Good call," Lionel responded. "I'll be sure to make sure you get there in time."
"Thanks, Lionel," Thor said before he leaned in to kiss him on his cheek. "Ya know, the three of us make a pretty great team."
"Guess we can call ourselves The Three Amigos of Gotham City." Cherry shrugged in response.
"I like it," replied Lionel with a nod. "It's very fitting."
"Hm... Glad you guys approve then." Cherry smirked a little.
"We do." Thor nodded.
Cherry smiled, seeing a brief text from Atticus before she sent a thumb's up in response so he would know she got the text even if she just skimmed over the message.
"What does Atticus want?" Lionel asked as he flipped through the TV channels.
"Something about school, I'll deal with it later." Cherry replied.
"Hope it's nothing major." Thor responded.
"I think he's just antsy... Ya know, about the change." Cherry said.
"With him offering to look after Darla for Mary?" Lionel guessed.
"Yeah," Cherry nodded. "She's going to school for the first time in a few of years since she and Mary had been traveling the world together until we met him with that Valentine: Dark Avenger misadventure."
"Maybe they could become like siblings." Lionel suggested.
"It seems to be like that so far after we helped Valentine and vanquished that so-called Bliss character," Cherry nodded. "Atticus was like the big brother that kid never had and Darla was like the little sister he never had."
"I think that sounds sweet actually," Thor smiled before frowning. "Unless she was only pretending to be nice."
"I don't think she was pretending," Cherry shook her head. "But yeah... Could be nice. I mean, it's not like she's gonna be a new Toon Force member or anything like that."
"Naaaaah. That's a little too out-there, if ya ask me." nodded Lionel.
"Especially given her age." Cherry replied as she began to relax with them.
Lionel and Thor then kicked back and relaxed with her as Cherry began to flip through the channels to look for something for them all to watch and enjoy since The Great Pumpkin wouldn't be on the air again until next year.
LATER THAT MONTH...
It was Tuesday at the local schools and soon the bell rang, releasing the students from their classes and they were going to be out of school for the next few days for Thanksgiving.
"Gobble, gobble, my friends! Thanksgiving Vacation is here!" Thor laughed and beamed as he joined his friends on the way home.
"That's right," Lionel nodded. "A week full of food, football, parades on television followed by fancy dog shows, and above all, just hanging out."
"Hmm... Maybe I could put Patch in a dog show someday?" Atticus wondered.
"I would ask for his consent first." Mo advised.
"Yeah... You're right," Atticus nodded. "I'm not the kind of guy to make people do something they don't wanna do."
"Well, I'm mostly excited for Thanksgiving this year cuz I never celebrated in a mansion before." Cherry smirked, not meaning to sound smug, but was enthralled about that idea.
"Yep," nodded Lionel. "Thanksgiving with Uncle Bruce! Sounds vaguely like a TV special, don't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it does..." Cherry commented.
"Brought to you by Coca Cola!" Thor leaned in suddenly with a bottle of the soda, standing next to a polar bear.
"Uh... Right..." Cherry blinked at the warlock teen.
Suddenly, out of thin air, there was a POOF! with a magic dust cloud and there was a sealed envelope that came with it.
"That's new." Atticus commented as the envelope appeared before landing in Cherry's hands.
"Where did that come from?" Mo wondered.
"Don't know," Cherry said before she checked the envelope a little. "Brought to you by 'The Alternate Other Realm Postal Service'?" she then read from the return address.
"Does it have a sender name on it?" inquired Thor.
Cherry checked before squinting her eyes. "...No, but should I open it anyway?" she then wondered.
"Let's go somewhere safe and then open it," Thor suggested. "If it's a hoax, we'll just tell my uncle and he'll take care of it."
"All right then." Cherry nodded.
Soon, they left school and headed right for a coffee shop formerly known as Bean There, Brewed That.
Cherry then brought out the envelope and began to open it up to see who it could be from before skipping over the written words and going down to the signature below, ignoring the photographs that came with the letter and soon her mind was put at ease once she saw who it was from. "'Jane Hart'." she then said, sounding calm and relaxed now.
"Jane Hart... for some reason, that name feels warm and familiar," Mo responded. "Any idea who it could be?"
"Maybe you should read the letter, Cherry." Atticus suggested.
"Great idea, Detective Douche." Cherry rolled her eyes.
Thor snickered, unable to help it as Atticus narrowed his eyes, looking unimpressed with the nickname.
"'Hey guys, how's it going? Before you throw this letter away as spam or have Drell torch it or whatever he has to do to remove any trace, I just want you all to know, this is the friend you once had: Sabrina'," Cherry began to read aloud before gasping. "It's Sabrina!"
"It's Sabrina." Thor soon told Atticus and the others.
"Thanks, we got that." Atticus deadpanned.
"Whatever!" Lionel responded. "Keep going if there's more."
"'I just want you all to know that I am alive and well in this alternate realm and have explored the wonders and adventures of a town called Greendale along with my new family'," Cherry continued to read from the letter before the rest of the group began to look at the photographs to see their Sabrina with the other Sabrina's family after being adopted by that world's Zelda and meeting people such as Eric Needles, Dora Márquez, and Marie Kanker. "'I'm hoping to go to school and I have heard about a place being vacant in Boston for me to study abroad and explore new worlds and possibilities. Happy Turkey Day to you guys and I hope you have a good one this year and I hope my letters find you guys because even though I'm a lot happier on this Earth, I miss you all very much and wish you all the best. Your old friend, Sabrina AKA Jane Hart'."
"...aw, that's so great!" Lionel smiled, wiping his eyes. "She really did find a place to belong!"
"And she's made some new friends along the way." Thor added as he looked at the photographs.
Cherry sighed a little, feeling emotional but trying to hide it.
"It's okay to be sad, Cherry," Mo coaxed as she took the perky goth's shoulder gently. "We all miss her, but she's a lot happier now."
"I know..." Cherry nodded as she tried not to be sad enough to cry. "I just still miss her a lot most of the time. Especially whenever we see John Constantine and Zatanna."
"Well, if we can't visit her [as far as we know], then we can at least remember the great times we had together," said Lionel. "AND be happy that she's doing so well, too!"
"Yeah... I guess you guys have a good point there..." Cherry said softly before nodding. "Let's just hope she has a nice Thanksgiving with her new friends and family."
"Yeah, maybe we could send her something in return!" Lionel nodded. "Let her know we're doing okay, and whatnot!"
"A care package!" Thor announced. "Hmm... Should we send her a turkey?"
"I don't know if that's the best idea." Cherry shrugged.
"A care package does sound nice, so maybe we could send photos from our other adventures since she showed us hers." Mo then suggested.
"Alright, sounds like a plan!" Lionel exclaimed. "So it's decided! We send her a selection of our photos!"
"Yeah!" The group soon cheered together.
Cherry cracked a small smile, starting to feel a little bit better as they continued to look at the photos. "Huh... Looks like Salem is having fun too." she then said before seeing the black cat of the Spellman family.
"Good for him!" Lionel noted.
"I guess I can relax a little bit now," Cherry said to the others. "Let's get a care package ready before Thursday so we can beat the rush of Thanksgiving festivities."
So the group got down to it. They all made sure to include things they knew their Sabrina liked before they would send out their package.
"Whoa, guys... Check it out..." Cherry whispered.
The group then looked up and over to see the boy known as Jim walking by as he used to be their Sabrina's crush before she suddenly left.
"Should we say hi to him?" Atticus wondered.
"Uh... I dunno if that's a good idea," Cherry replied as she put a skull-shaped candle into the package. "What would we even say to him?"
"Besides, we barely know him anyways, that'd just be awkward." Mo added.
"Hmm... Good point..." Atticus nodded.
"Right," Cherry replied as she soon put the candle in the box they picked out for their friend. "Right now, let's just worry about us until we're called away from like Batman or Superman." she then suggested due to their closeness with The Justice League in this universe.
"Aye-aye, Skipper." Thor responded as they went off.
"I just wonder... How are we gonna mail this?" Atticus wondered.
"I guess we'll just use The Supernatural Realm's postal service," Cherry shrugged before she felt her phone vibrate and took it out to see a text from Bruce. "'Alfred's picking up turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner, look forward to celebrating the holiday with you guys'."
"Aww... He does care..." Mo cooed and chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah..." Cherry rolled her eyes with a smirk.
"So let's enjoy our freedom before the real fun begins!" Lionel exclaimed.
"At least he's in a cheerful mood." Cherry remarked.
POOF! A pixie soon flew in, dressed as a delivery man, holding his hands out for the package in her hand.
Cherry taped the package up and handed it over. "Here ya go."
"Pleasure doin' business with ya." The pixie spoke in a deep and grave voice before accepting the package and poofing away.
Cherry nodded before she faced the others in her group. "Now that that's done, let's get ready for Thanksgiving Break before Christmas Break." she then told them.
"Agreed." Atticus nodded.
"Technically you should call it Holiday Break because of other students." Thor piped up.
"...I don't care." Cherry narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah," Lionel chimed in. "Besides, they're not the ones living with us."
"Just thought I'd appropriate the situation," Thor smiled innocently. "Especially with the hard work my mother's gonna be doing, along with my aunts and possibly my uncle coming by for the dinner."
"Can't your mother just poof up a good meal or something?" Atticus spoke up.
"No." Thor rolled his eyes.
"Why not?" Mo asked.
"Because..." Thor scoffed, showing a rare instance of being annoyed as he crossed his arms. "Witches are forbidden from using magic to make Thanksgiving dinner in an attempt to discourage them from celebrating Thanksgiving to spite the witch-hating pilgrims." he then explained and recited, almost like he had heard that very same response when he asked that question when he was younger.
"I assume you've heard that explanation quite a bit?" Lionel asked.
"Yes." Thor responded.
"Figures." Lionel replied.
"Well, good luck with your Thanksgiving plans," Cherry said before she smirked slyly. "I have a feeling that Thanksgiving will be pretty interesting for me this year."
"Yep," Lionel chimed in. "I think this might be my third one ever, so I don't mind it being interesting."
"Especially with Uncle Bruce~" Cherry smirked and winked due to how things have been going between Batman and Catwoman lately.
"Hoo-hoo-hoo, yeah! This is gonna be good!" Lionel grinned widely as he rubbed his hands together.
"Let's make it a good one!" Atticus said.
"Yeah!" The Toon Force cheered together as they began to get ready to have a very special Thanksgiving with their respective families.
Eventually, Cherry and Lionel headed for Wayne Manor as Cherry carried a Butterball turkey.
"Well, hopefully we have a little break from bad guys or supernatural threats for a while during Turkey Day." Cherry said to Lionel on the way inside.
"It's a long shot, but let's at least hope for it," Lionel agreed. "Oh! You think Dick and Jason are gonna be there?"
"Hmm... Good question..." Cherry replied. "Jason's a mystery, but I wouldn't rule out Dick. He's like a big brother to me."
"That's true," Lionel agreed. "So we'd best get this bird to the house and we'll see how things play out."
"Mm-hmm," Cherry nodded before she opened and unlocked the front door. "Hey, uh, Bruce? You there? We got turkey!" she soon called out.
There was no answer at first.
"Bruce...?" Cherry called before she gave the turkey to Lionel. "Hello?"
Suddenly, someone lunged out and tackled Cherry to the floor.
"Oof!" Cherry groaned and grunted.
"Looks like someone needs more lessons with the Teen Titans." Dick smirked as he was shown to be responsible for that.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Richard." Lionel remarked dryly.
"Right back at you, Lionel," Dick smirked back. "Hope you don't mind, I brought a guest with me."
"You brought a guest?" Cherry asked.
"That's what I just said," Dick smirked. "Your hearing starting to go?"
"Very funny," Cherry rolled her eyes. "Who is it then?" she then asked.
"It's Kory," Dick replied as the Tamaranean woman smiled and waved at Cherry and Lionel. "This is going to be the first Thanksgiving we spend together."
"Oh, wow..." Cherry blinked before she smiled a little. "Hey there, Kory."
"Greetings, new friends," Kory smiled back. "I look forward to celebrating this holiday with you and your family."
"Thanks!" Lionel nodded. "And congrats to you and Dick."
"Thank you very much, Friend Lionel," Kory beamed. "I just know that this will be great for everyone."
"Aside from the crime and drama of this world, it's good to have highlights like this," Cherry nodded. "I just hope you're ready to try out an early dinner and fall asleep in front of the TV."
"It's what turkey does best," Dick chuckled. "Just throw that turkey in the kitchen and Alfred will take care of it."
"Caaan do." Lionel responded as he brought the bird to the kitchen.
Cherry nodded at him before she dusted herself clean.
"Wanna try a little match before we get settled?" Dick smirked at Cherry.
"Oh, bring it," Cherry smirked back as she went into a fighting pose. "You just caught me by surprise earlier~"
"Gladly." Dick smirked as he got ready to rumble.
Cherry chuckled as she soon put her hands up. Dick soon lunged out for Cherry again before she rolled out of the way and soon came behind him and jumped on his back, causing him to grunt suddenly.
"Gotcha," Cherry smirked down at him as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly. "You miss your annoying little surrogate sister?"
"Who do you think is going to win?" Kory asked Lionel as they got out of the way.
"At this point, it's anyone's game, Kory." Lionel replied with a firm nod.
"What are we, placing bets?" asked another voice. "If so, then I want a piece of that action."
Lionel and Kory turned around and saw a young man around Dick's age (give or take a couple years) wearing a beige trenchcoat, gloves, and his red hair had a white streak through it.
"JASON!" Lionel gushed. "Bring it in, big guy!"
"Long time no see." Jason chuckled as he ruffled up Lionel's hair a bit.
Kory greeted Jason with a nod of her head. Soon, Cherry and Dick stopped briefly with Cherry pinned down to the floor suddenly as she glanced over.
"...Oh, hey, Jason!" Cherry greeted in surprise. "Didn't think I'd hear your voice again or come around these parts!"
"Guess you thought wrong, Baby Bat," Jason smirked as he helped her up. "Might not be a Robin anymore, but I didn't exactly have anything else planned for Turkey Day."
"Well, all right," Cherry smirked back as she crossed her arms. "You just better not hog the couch after I'm done eating dinner."
"Not that Bruce would let us cuz you're his Bat Princess." Dick rolled his eyes playfully.
"Very funny," Cherry scoffed. "You just better hope you get invited to the wedding~"
"Also that," Jason replied. "Figured I'd come and offer my congratulations to the happy couple. Personally, it's about TIME Bruce tied the knot with someone. Here I thought he'd just be old and alone for the rest of his life. Glad I was wrong about that!"
"Oh, come now, surely you all know I'm better than that." Bruce said suddenly right behind him.
Jason blinked before turning around with a nod.
"Nice to have you all together," Bruce said with a small smile. "It's like our own little family reunion."
"Well, that's what Thanksgivings are for," Cherry remarked before she rolled her eyes. "At least I don't have to write a five-page essay about a random topic for school so I can just enjoy my dinner and not think about school for the rest of the week until we get a month off in December."
"Yup!" Lionel agreed. "So let's just enjoy it for as long as it lasts!"
"Just try not to kill each other before the parade tomorrow." Bruce told them.
"We won't~" Cherry, Dick, and Jason replied innocently before they shared looks with each other.
"Because I know if you will or won't," Bruce warned them. "I made you all into who you are today."
"Looks like I get bonus points cuz I'm the niece of Catwoman." Cherry smirked to herself.
"Yeah, yeah." Dick rolled his eyes.
Cherry scoffed and stuck her tongue out at him. Dick soon gave her a bit of a face in response as well.
"Enough of that now..." Bruce told them.
"Yes, sir..." Cherry and Dick replied innocently before they smirked at each other.
"...So you wanna hang out and watch Netflix with me until something comes up?" Cherry asked Lionel.
"Sure, that works!" Lionel replied.
"All right, let's see what we can find." Cherry nodded.
"Are you two dating already or what?" Jason asked.
"Shh... Cherry doesn't like being teased," Dick warned. "If she gets upset, Bruce will kill us."
"And Selina will deal with what remains!" Lionel chuckled as he turned back to face the screen.
"Who's he talking to?" Jason asked the others.
"You're better off not questioning it." Dick advised.
Cherry soon brought Lionel into her room and they watched Netflix together to pass the time until it would be time for Thanksgiving.
Eventually, it was the day of the Thanksgiving dinner that they would have as the parade was on TV.
"Live from New York City, it's the Thanksgiving Day Parade!" An announcer said on the TV as Cherry, Lionel, Dick, and Jason were huddled up in front of the living room while dinner was being made. "With the popular balloons, we all know and love: Mickey Rabbit, Sponge Cow, and Clifton the Small Blue Dog!"
"Is it me or does it seem like our world is lazy with original ideas?" Jason commented.
"I have no idea what you mean," Cherry replied. "Let's finish watching this, eat dinner, and then we can either watch a movie like Jungle Run, Triassic World, Ape vs Monster, or The Amazing Bulk." she then suggested.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" asked Lionel.
"Why, Lionel, I have no idea what you could possibly mean~" Cherry smiled in that snarky, playful manner that made Lionel roll his eyes but smile.
"Dinner!" Alfred soon called out once the clock struck 2:30.
Soon, everybody was gathered around the table with their heads bowed and eyes closed as the food was ready to be shared.
"And lastly, thank you for our guests." Bruce soon said as the prayer ended before they would eat their dinner.
"Happy Thanksgiving, everybody." Cherry said as this seemed to be going very nicely.
"Happy Thanksgiving!" Lionel chimed in, before making a turkey sound. "But no turkey for me, thanks. You all can have my share!"
"You can at least have my mother's homemade mashed potatoes," Cherry told Lionel as she gave him a big bowl of such. "Trust me, these are the best mashed potatoes anybody could ever taste."
"Alright... I suppose I can see for myself." Lionel responded as he scooped out a spoonful onto his plate to sample some. He took a bit from the top and stuck it into his mouth, tasting it before swallowing.
Cherry leaned in, looking hopeful and curious to see his reaction. The mashed potatoes were very buttery and fluffy, almost like delicious clouds, as well as chunks of potatoes inside that gave them their own distinctive taste and flavor and of course were rather milky due to how they were prepared. They were Cherry's favorite side dish in her mother's cooking and she hoped that Lionel would maybe feel the same way, but she didn't want him left out of Thanksgiving dinner.
Finally, Lionel swallowed and removed his spoon from his mouth. After what felt like a millennium of silence, he found his voice. "...now THOSE are some primo taters."
"Ah... Great!" Cherry approved.
Soon, they continued to have a rather quiet family Thanksgiving dinner together, taking a break from their heroic duties. At least for now unless they would suddenly be called away as it shaped up to be a pretty interesting Turkey Day indeed for all of them. However, while things went well for them on Thanksgiving, the same thing couldn't be said for Falcone and his son.
The man himself was at a restaurant, eating with his family when he stood up and clinked his spoon against his glass to get everyone's attention. "To the family," he declared. "Those dearly departed... and those whom we are fortunate to have beside us here today. Let us be thankful for the time we still have together, and for the many blessings bestowed upon us."
The other Falcones raised their wine glasses.
"Alla salute." said Carmine.
"SALUTE!" The others chimed in, before they all took a sip.
However, as the family had their Thanksgiving dinner together, something was going on behind the shadows that another group did not know about or would realize until it would be too late. Beer and laughter were being spread all around Chinatown until they soon saw someone come in to join them.
"Oh, look."
"Oh, come here!"
"Yeah!"
"I told you I'd walk." Mickey Chen smirked at the group.
The others clamored and approved, looking very excited and thrilled as they spent Thanksgiving together. "
Very good, very good."
"Whoo-hoo!"
"Welcome back."
Back at Wayne Manor, Cherry smiled as she began to reach out to take out the other parts of the turkey before she tilted her head and found a couple of pieces missing somehow which perplexed her. Bruce smirked at that before he checked his phone which made him frown suddenly.
"Do you have to go?" Selina guessed.
"I'm afraid duty calls for now," Bruce told him before he stood up. "Please excuse me, all of you." he then told everybody else at the table.
"Looks like he's got business to attend to." Jason murmured.
"I'll try not to be back too late." Bruce told his family as he stood up from the table.
"You better not or else you'll miss dessert." Selina smirked before she sipped her wine.
"I'll definitely not miss that," Bruce reassured before he kissed her goodbye. "You all just relax and stay here. I'll be back shortly." he then told the others.
"Roger-Jackson, sarge." responded Lionel with a salute.
Bruce nodded and he soon left. Selina watched him go before she sighed a little to herself.
"Don't worry. He'll be back," Dick smiled softly. "These things happen."
"Yes, I suppose so." Selina pouted a little bit.
"Aw, he'll make it!" Lionel responded. "Wouldn't be the first time this kinda thing happened!" And he tucked back into the plateful of potatoes.
Bruce nodded at that as he soon left, changed into Batman, and took off into the night.
Selina sighed a little. She agreed with the others, though she felt a little emotionally distant right now for the same reason.
Deep in the sewers, there seemed to be a plate of Thanksgiving dinner left down there for Solomon Grundy who was there before he took it for himself as Batman patrolled down there. "Solomon Grundy... Born on a Monday..." he mumbled to himself.
Back in Chinatown, the men in the room continued to holler and laugh, enjoying themselves as they were unaware of what was about to happen to them.
"No. Believe me. I told him where he could stick the cape," Mickey Chen laughed at his associates, unaware of the company that was right behind them. "Even Gordon laughed. That's when they let me go."
Soon, the killer approached, shooting a silent gun and killing them all instantly as it was now literally their last supper as another holiday had come and gone.
That night at Wayne Manor, everybody continued to hang around each other as Cherry was half asleep on the couch as she watched Dick and Kory spend their time together. "So how soon until you guys get married?" she then teased her big brother figure and the Tamaranean woman.
"Couple months, maybe." Dick replied, his cheeks a bit red.
"Would you like to come along to the ceremony?" Kory asked Cherry.
"Yeah, it might be fun," Cherry shrugged. "It could be in the summer since not much happens in the summer, especially if you're an introvert like me."
"We'll see what we can do," Dick nodded. "Jason, you want in on this?"
"Yeah, I might check it out," Jason smirked with a shrug. "After all, we're all a family and we gotta stick together, right?"
"Right. Of course." Kory nodded.
Selina smiled at them before she looked out the window with a small frown in concern.
"Hey. He's gonna be alright." Lionel encouraged, patting her on the shoulder.
"Thank you, Lionel," Selina replied. "I believe in Bruce and trust him, I just worry about him sometimes."
"Everyone does," Lionel nodded. "Being Batman doesn't exactly leave much room for a social life, or hobbies in your downtime. That's why you hafta make friends where you can."
"Yes, of course," Selina nodded. "I wasn't very popular in school back in my day, so I didn't have very many friends."
The others comforted Selina as they continued to have a nice Thanksgiving together. Soon, after Thanksgiving, everybody else began to look forward to the holidays, but no one was more excited about a season change than school students since they would be on Winter Break soon and they would be away from school for a month. It was time to look forward to the winter holidays and even New Year's.