Chapter 18 - Thanksgiving

Jon may have opted not to punish Shawn for missing a week of science classes, but there were still natural consequences. His science teacher gave him extra work to be completed and to make up for the time he had lost, and despite Shawn's animosity with her, Jon insisted he complete it at the very start of Thanksgiving break, so Shawn was pretty cranky that Wednesday.

At one point, he looked up from the mountain of homework—Jon had also asked him to work on it at the kitchen table—and asked, "Are we doing anything for Thanksgiving?"

"The Matthews invited us."

"And you said we'd come?"

"Well, yeah."

Shawn shifted uncomfortably, looking down at his work.

"What's wrong, Hunter? Thought you'd be happy about that."

"I know it sounds selfish, but... it's still really hard to feel thankful."

Jon sighed. "Well, Cory's mom is baking two pies. That's a start."

Shawn smiled a little, still looking down. "How about you?"

"What about me?"

"I mean, your whole life got overturned. What are you gonna be thankful for?"

"Well, according to some people, you."

Shawn scoffed. "No one says that."

"Sure they do."

"Name one."

"Alan Matthews."

"Okay, but he's Cory's dad, and I'm Cory's best friend. It's, like, his job to say that. I bet he's the only one."

Jon wracked his brain. "Uh, your nurse said I got lucky with you."

"Ashley?"

"Yeah."

"Dude. You should date her."

Jon ignored that comment. "Well, there you go. It's not just Mr. Matthews."

Shawn shook his head. "She doesn't count either. She doesn't even know me. She was probably just flirting with you."

Jon rolled his eyes, before it occurred to him. "Feeny said you and I were lucky to have each other."

Shawn blinked a few times, then he looked away. "Nah, I don't believe you."

"Believe it or don't, Hunter. It happened."

"Why would Feeny say that?"

"Because it's true."

Shawn stared at him for another moment, then he just said, "Whatever," and went back to his science homework.

They slept in late on Thanksgiving day. Jon got back from a long run at 11, and the kid still wasn't up. He started making a big breakfast, to tide them over since they wouldn't be eating lunch. Shawn usually woke up when he heard bacon sizzling. Today was no exception.

When it was time to go, Jon asked, "Car or bike?" Shawn was still new enough to driving that it was a novelty, and if they took the car, he got to drive. At the same time, the bike was a lot more fun for him.

"Uh. Bike."

Jon grabbed the helmets, and they headed down. When they got there, though, he handed Shawn the key.

"I thought we were taking the bike."

"Yup."

Shawn's face lit up. "No way!"

"Try not to get us killed."

"I'm a safe driver."

"That's the only reason I'm letting you do this."

He let Shawn get onto the bike first this time, and he climbed on behind him. He took a couple of minutes to explain how to turn it on, the brakes, the gears, and how to signal. Then they took off.

Shawn took it seriously. At first, he rode a lot slower than Jon ever did, getting the hang of the controls, and by the end, they were going a little faster than he would drive.

They pulled up at Matthews, and Alan came out of the house. "Why don't you pull into the garage?... Shawn? You're driving?"

They pulled into the garage, and Shawn jumped off, pulling his helmet off. He was grinning ear to ear. "Hey Mr. Matthews."

"Hey Shawn." He pulled Shawn into a quick, rough hug, then turned to Jon. "Good to see you, Jonathan." He shook his hand and clapped his back a couple of times.

"Thanks for the invite," Jon said.

They went into the house; the smell was amazing, and Amy was running around in the kitchen. It occurred to Jon that they should have offered to bring something. He was always having a hard time with ordinary manners, since the world he had come from was so different.

Nevertheless, Amy looked up from her work when they came in, and she ran over to hug each of them, just like Alan had done. Shawn reached for the pan of green beans, and he almost got one before Amy slapped his hand away. "Hey! Where are your manners?"

"I'm starving! Jon didn't let me have lunch."

She smiled. "There's hors d'oeuvres on the table. Don't spoil your appetite."

"Have you met him? I don't think anything could spoil that kid's appetite." Alan asked, picking a green bean out of the casserole while Amy's back was turned.

Cory and Shawn settled down with Eric, starting to devour the hors d'oeuvres, until Shawn got the brilliant idea of trying to throw grapes into each other's mouths. Jon told them to be careful, but they mostly ignored him until Shawn knocked over a glass and Alan came over to give each of them a light smack on the side of the head—Cory protested that he hadn't been the one to do it, which, of course, earned him a smack to the other side. Shawn laughed out loud, which earned him a second smack, then Amy came over and whacked Alan and told all of them to set the table. Eric just watched the whole thing, then looked up at Jon and grinned.

Jon watched all of it happen, happy to see Shawn connecting and feeling at home but unsure where he fit into all of it. He was more than relieved when Amy called him and Eric into the kitchen to finish a couple of last things.

A few minutes later, Amy yelled up the stairs for Morgan to come down, and they all sat down at the table. Shawn sat between Cory and Jon on one side, across from Morgan and Eric, while Amy and Alan took the heads of the table. A couple of items still needed to cool on the counter or heat up in the oven, so Amy said, "We have just enough time to go around and say what we're thankful for."

Growing up, Jon had always hated this tradition. His parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents would claim to be thankful for all sorts of things that they obviously took for granted as they lied and cheated and stabbed each other in the back for money. But hearing Alan and Amy talk so genuinely about being thankful for their kids and for each other, and Eric and Morgan laughing and joking about being thankful for girls and toys, respectively, it felt good. After Eric spoke, though, Alan leaned over to kiss the side of his head, and after Morgan did, Amy took and squeezed her hand.

Jon could see Shawn watching Cory like a hawk when it was his turn. Cory said, "I'm thankful for friends and family that are always there for me." Cory smiled, and Amy patted his shoulder.

Almost imperceptibly, Shawn flinched.

Jon figured a lot went into that. Of course, Shawn's family hadn't always been there for him. But also, only days before, Shawn had claimed that Cory wasn't thankful for his family, that nobody expected him to be. All eyes were on Shawn, and he took a deep breath. "Yeah, same as Cory," he said.

Jon took the cue from Amy and Alan—he brought a hand up to the back of Shawn's neck and squeezed gently. "I'm thankful to be here," he said. "No matter where we all are next year, I'm thankful we're here now."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Amy and Alan exchanging a worried look, but just then, the timer rang on the oven, and Amy, Eric, and Morgan started bringing steaming dishes to the table.

For a while, the table came to life with everyone passing dishes, and exclaiming excitedly about the food. Jon waited until everything had been passed around and his plate filled to start eating, but Shawn didn't wait. He stuffed his face in between serving dishes being passed to him. Jon almost wanted to say something, but even if it had been terrible manners, he didn't think he could've brought himself to. Shawn actually seemed happy.

After dinner, the kids settled down in front of the TV while Jon stayed at the table with Alan and Amy. Amy took out a bottle of wine and poured a glass for herself and Alan. "Jon?" she asked, holding out the bottle.

Jon was about to accept, but he caught Shawn watching him from the couch. Truth was, Jon hadn't been drinking much lately. He definitely hadn't been drinking at home, since he couldn't store alcohol in the apartment without risking Shawn stealing it, but he was also aware that the smell of alcohol on a parent's breath might have certain associations in Shawn's mind that Jon wanted to avoid. "No, thanks, Amy."

"How are things going, Jon?" Amy asked.

Jon took a deep breath. "I feel like my answer to that changes every week."

"Sounds like parenting."

"I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm always getting things wrong."

"Yep," Alan said. "Congratulations. It's a boy."

Over time, Jon was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with these comments. He wasn't going to get to adopt Shawn, even if he wanted to. And a growing part of him was starting to want to. He looked back over at the kids on the couch. "You could've done better for him."

"I don't know about that," Alan said.

"He's happy here."

"And we would've been happy to take him, if you couldn't. But it would've changed our relationship with him. Besides—" he waited until Jon looked back at him— "he loves you."

"Yeah. Right."

"I've known that kid longer than you have."

"And I'm sure he loves you, too."

"It's a different kind of love."

"Half the time I think he hates me."

"Then you're doing your job."

Jon looked at his hands for a long moment. "So, speaking of jobs, how are things going at the store? You started working at a new one, right?"

Amy and Alan exchanged a glance, but they accepted the subject change, and they talked about work and sports until Morgan ran in and asked when they could have dessert, and then they all went and settled in front of the TV with bowls of pie and ice cream. By the time it occurred to Jon that they should get going before Shawn got too tired to sit up on the motorcycle, Shawn and Cory were both out cold, leaning against each other on the couch.

Jon reached over to shake him awake, but Amy tapped him on the shoulder before he could. "Let him sleep," she said. "You can come get him in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"In fact, if you want to come later in the afternoon, that's fine, too. Enjoy some time alone, I'm sure you could use it."

"Or call up your girlfriend," Alan said. "You could've brought her tonight, you know."

"I'm not seeing anyone anymore," Jon said.

"That's too bad, sorry to hear it."

Jon shrugged. "I'm gonna get going."

Annie smiled and gave him another hug. "Thanks so much for coming," and she said.

"Thanks for everything," he said. He looked at Shawn one more time, trying to decide if he should let him know he was going, but decided to let him rest. God knew the kid could use more sleep.

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving!