(Author's Note: Here we go with the next chapter. Honestly, I'm not sure about this one. Probably not the best for a Thanksgiving chapter, if I'm being honest. Hopefully it'll be good.
Just like the chapter set a decade into the future that's supposed to do the Christmas special, this chapter may not have focused as much on the holiday aspect as it probably should have.
There's one thing I wanted to point out. A while back, some people were saying that I hadn't said Lena's age in the story and asked about it. But I reread the story and discovered that I actually did say Lena's age in the prologue, when she was talking to Leni. So…there's that.
Almost forgot, happy late Thanksgiving! Hope everybody had a good time yesterday. You can thank Momijifan Low-Ki ( for reminding me.
Enjoy:)
Chapter Twelve: Thanksgiving of Mayhem
"Where's the baby? There she is! Where's the baby? There she is!" I swear my heart literally melted at the adorable sound of my baby sister's laughter. What? She was cute, and I will not feel less by saying it.
"That's a pretty cute kid you've got there," I turned to see Bailey on the floor with the living room table, "But…I've seen better."
I raised an eyebrow, "Really? Well, I disagree."
"Oh really? Well then, care to put your money where your mouth is little girl?" She asked mockingly.
"You're on!" I shot back.
"Alrighty then cowpoke…DRAW!" I quickly picked up Lily and held her out to Bailey, who did the same thing with her baby brother Bradley. The two babies stared at one another for a few seconds as they waved around their hands and making those adorable baby babbling noises that they do.
Bailey and I glared lightly at one another with our own neutral expressions for a little while longer before we both broke out laughing. Our infant siblings began laughing as well, even I was pretty sure that they didn't really have a clue as to what they exactly were laughing at. But that was alright.
You guys probably want an explanation. Me, Bailey, and our infant siblings were all in our house as our (mine and Lily's) parents and their (Bailey and Bradley's) grandparents talked in the kitchen. About what? I have no idea.
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(3rd Person P.O.V)
"-and then, in comes Robert wearing…a skirt!" Victor and Lynn Sr. laughed at loud. Victor was telling a story about one of his old friends from college.
"That can't be true!" Lynn Sr. wiped a tear from his eye, barely able to keep himself from laughing so much.
"It is! You know…he should have thanked me! The girls all said he had nice legs…so, if anything, I did him a favor!" The two men continued to laugh as their wives merely looked on, shaking their heads with coffee mugs in their hands.
"This is…enjoyable," Rita commented, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Well, they are our husbands. So you have to wonder what's the issue with us," Rebecca stated, causing the two women to laugh together.
"You are aware that we can hear you, right?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
"We know," Rebecca shot back, taking a sip from her coffee mug while giving her husband a wink.
"So, what are you two and the kids doing this Thanksgiving? Got any plans? Going to see any relatives?" Rita asked.
"No," Victor answered, "Not really anything major going on. We were just thinking of cooking and staying in with the kids these days."
"Oh, here's an idea," Rita called out, getting the attention of the other three adults, "What about you guys come over and bring the kids over to our house for Thanksgiving? We can talk and all of the kids can play and talk with each other."
Victor and Rebecca looked at one another and seemed to have their own mental conversation with each other.
"Are you sure about that? It wouldn't be an issue?" Victor asked.
"Of course not," Lynn Sr. waved off, "We don't have anything going on either, so it'll be fun."
Victor smirked, "Well alright then. Sure. We'll head over here around…noon or one, would that work for you guys?"
"Yeah, that should be fine," Lynn Sr. answered.
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(Lena's P.O.V)
Bailey and I were on the floor, Lily and Bradley crawling on our backs, laughing, and even doing a little dance of their own. It was just plain adorable. Admittedly, it kinda hurt a bit for Lily to be dancing on my back. I think that it may have been because I was smaller and closer to Lily's size then Bailey was to Bradley. Bailey didn't seem to mind at all after all, although…it's possible that she may just be used to it.
Or maybe she's just ignoring any discomfort that she may be feeling from Bradley dancing along her back.
"Hey kids," we all looked up to see mom and dad walking into the living room with Mr. and Mrs. Benson.
"Hey dad," I waved before Lily put her hand on my face and waved to them too, "Lily, get off of me!" I didn't want to turn my body, because I didn't want for her to fall down. So I just tried to move her hand away, but I suspected that she was purposely doing that just because she thought it was funny. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised.
"Bailey," Mrs. Benson spoke to her granddaughter, "We're all gonna be spending Thanksgiving here. Can you text your brothers for me please?"
"Okay mama," Bailey carefully reached behind her and grabbed Bradley in one of her arms (I wanted to do that with Lily, but I didn't think my arms were long enough) and set him onto the floor. Bailey then took her phone out of her pocket and (assumingly) went to go text her brothers. "Done!" She called out after a few seconds, holding up her phone as if it was full on proof.
Mrs. Benson smiled, "Thank you honey," she then turned to my parents, "Well then, everything is all set up. If there's not an issue, we'll be here around noon…ish tomorrow."
"Great," mom smiled, "Make sure you bring your appetites, my husband makes some good Thanksgiving dinner."
"Oh hun, you're making me blush," dad waved off, the smile not leaving his face, "But, feel free to keep going." Mom rolled her eyes and playfully slapped dad's shoulder.
"Oh no," Mrs. Benson waved a finger at your parents, "Don't you two think for even a second that we aren't gonna be helping out with the cooking. We're gonna be cooking some dishes tonight, and we'll be bringing them over tomorrow. So don't be thinking that you'll just be cooking all on your own and we won't be doing anything."
"Oh come on, we're the ones who're inviting you into our house. We insist," mom tried to state, but Mrs. Benson wasn't having any of that.
"Absolutely not. We're going to be bringing food tomorrow, and that's that. End of discussion, no arguments."
"You really should just leave it alone Mrs. Loud," Bailey chimed in, "When mama decides on something, that's what's gonna happen."
"Bailey's right about that," Mr. Benson chuckled before Mrs. Benson gave him a look with a raised eyebrow. Mr. Benson coughed into his arm and suddenly found our wall to be very interesting.
"Alright," mom put her hands up in surrender, "Fine, if that's the way you're going to be about it-."
"It is," Mrs. Benson smirked, to which Mr. Benson and dad chuckled and mom rolled her eyes. Even Bailey and I laughed a bit.
Thanksgiving with the Bensons, I thought to myself, That should be fun. Completely crazy and chaotic…but fun.
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I was walking outside of my house, and, to be honest, I really wasn't doing much other then walking around.
…
What? This is what I do sometimes. Sometimes I just want to walk around for a bit outside. I was just waiting around for everybody. The Bensons hadn't gotten over here yet, and all of my siblings were doing their own thing. Lincoln and my five eldest sisters were out with friends (except for Lori, who was with Bobby), and my other sisters were in the house. Lucy was writing poems (probably in the vents), Lisa was working on some type of science experiment (that I have know I would not have understood it at all. Like…at all), Lily was taking a nap in her room, and the twins…well…I would like to think that they were doing their own thing, but I couldn't help but suspect that they were fighting/arguing about something. Call it a type of sixth sense that I have of knowing when there's conflict between them.
I know right, talk about the lamest superpower ever.
Suddenly, I felt something large land onto my back. "SURPRISE!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed and flailed my arms around wildly in terror. As I was running around, I ended up tripping over my own feet and falling face first to the ground.
"Oh crud! Lena, are you alright?!" I turned my head to see Laura standing over me with a concerned look on her face.
I glared at her, "I'd be better if you didn't do that!" I normally don't like rising my voice to anybody, but I will when I get really angry. You know, like when someone ends up getting me to trip over my own feet and fall face first on the floor!
"My bad," she apologized sincerely, I could tell from the tone of her voice. And that did admittedly make me feel a bit better.
"It's fine," I waved off. Laura offered me a hand up, and I took it, "Just please don't do that again."
Laura sighed, "Sure. But-."
"No."
"You don't even know what I'm gonna say!"
"Yes, I do. You forget that I know you."
She rolled her eyes (and I mean that she did it so where it was clearly visible to whoever she was talking to) and sighed loudly, "Fine."
I rolled my own eyes. I wish she'd remember this conversation later on, but I know that she won't. "So, what're you and your families plans for Thanksgiving?" I asked her as we walked out of the school. "I could ask my parents if they could make three extra places for you and parents."
"No, it's alright. Me and my parents are going out of town today, going to see some relatives that'd be about…an hour away. Maybe an hour and fifteen. What about you guys?"
"The Bensons are coming over to our house later on."
"So…the house of fourteen people, is going to add another fourteen people to their house?"
I shrugged, "Pretty much." Laura looked at me for a few seconds before she started laughing out loud. I tried to glare at her for her comment, but (eventually) I found myself laughing too.
"You're so stupid," I shook my head, but the smile on my face made the insult less impactful.
"Yeah, but you love me anyway," she had a big smile on her face just as she threw her arms around me and grabbed me in a big hug. I shook my head, not really bothering to get out of the hug.
"Yeah, for some reason," I commented back.
"Well, whatever that reason is means that you're stuck with me. Forever," she whispered in my ear, causing me to giggle a bit. Then I noticed something.
"Why does your breath smell like anchovies?"
"I just ate the last piece of leftover anchovy pizza left in the fridge."
"Even though you're going to be leaving to eat a WHOLE thanksgiving dinner in less then an hour and a half?"
"Oh please. Other then my parents, you know best that I could eat a meal now and STILL eat a whole feast not long after." She's not wrong. She must have a CRAZY fast…metabolism, I believe the term is.
"True," I gave her a little hug back, "I'll see you later, and at least try to not annoy your relatives. Not too much at least."
"All I can promise is that I will try. No promise that it'll actually happen." We both shared a look for a few more moments before we both burst out laughing.
DING!
Both of us hearing the noise, Laura took her phone from her pocket. "Oh…that's my mom. Gotta go Lena."
"Alright," I gave her one last quick hug, "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
She hugged back, "Yep. Maybe even tonight, depending on how long we stay. And whether or not the turkey knocks me out completely." We shared another laugh before Laura sped away to her house, turning to wave as she did so.
I gave her a little wave back (although I'm not sure she saw) before deciding to head back in the house.
When I opened the door, my nose was immediately flooded with a delicious smell.
Actually, let me rephrase that…delicious smells. I actually felt some drool running down my chin and quickly wiped it away in embarrassment (hoping that no one saw).
"Good afternoon Lena." I yelped in surprise and fell to the ground. Again. I looked behind me to see Lucy standing over me, a piece of paper in hand. She held out a hand, "Sorry."
"I-It's okay," I took the hand up. I swear, we need to put a bell on this girl!
Hmmm, I wonder if I could get the others to agree on that at the next sibling meeting.
"Are you drooling?" She asked me.
Blushing bright red, I stuttered out, "N-N-No!" I turned my head away from her and quickly wiped my chin in embarrassment. Well that wasn't great. "W-What's up?"
"I was wondering if you had an idea for a word that rhymes with "jail". I'm writing a new poem."
"Uh…tail?" That sounded more like a question then a statement (which I noticed).
"…That'll work, thank you."
"No…problem. So…did you hear that the Bensons are coming over for dinner?" I asked, hoping that changing the conversation would relieve the…shall we say…awkward tension that I felt in the room.
"Yes. It should be fun, the Bensons are fun to be around," Lucy said…I wanna say happily?
"Y-Yeah." Just then, the doorbell rung.
"Lena sweetheart!" I heard mom call from the kitchen, "Can you get the door for me sweetie?!"
"Okay mom!" Moving past Lucy, I opened up the door and was greeted to the sight of the entire Benson family standing on the porch. My face brightened almost immediately, "Hey guys."
"Hey there stranger," Boomer popped his head from behind his two eldest siblings, "May we come in? We come bringing food and fourteen hungry stomachs."
I giggled, "Sure, come on in." I moved out of the way to let the Bensons into the house. Mr. and Mrs. Benson immediately went to the kitchen with my parents. "Guys! The Bensons are here!"
"Aw, having our presence announced like that makes me feel so special," Brad commented, a hand over his heart.
"Just ignore him," Bailey said to me, "Brad didn't get enough sleep last night, and I think he's growing…how can I put this delicately? "Less smart", I suppose may be the best phrasing," she ended her sentence with a smirk.
"So, he must not have gotten enough sleep in the months that we've known him," I turned to see the twins, Lisa, and dad with Lily in his arms (how he snuck past like that is beyond me) walking down the stairs. Dad set Lily down and headed back into the kitchen.
Brad took in a deep inhale of breath, and turned to Lola (who was the one who had spoken), "Let me tell you this little girl, you are so lucky that you aren't one of my siblings. Because if you were(1)-," Brad punched his fist into his hand, sending a smirk Lola's way that sent shivers down her spine.
Or, I assume it did. Simply because it sent shivers down my spine.
"Stop threatening other people's kids," Brock chastised. He turned to Lola, "Just ignore him. He won't do anything. And if he does, you just come to me and I'll set him straight."
"I'm not like one of the kids Brock," Brad said, "I'll fight back."
Brock chuckled, "Is that supposed to intimidate me? You haven't properly beaten me in a fight since we were kids." Brad growled at his older brother and simply turned away, which made me suspect that Brock was right and that Brad knew it.
"Whoa! I knew our house had a lot of people, but this is ridiculous," suddenly hearing the said of Lynn's voice, I turned to the door to see her along with my four eldest sisters and my only brother standing by the doorway.
"Yeah, your parents made a bet with mama and papa. To make a long story short, you guys lost your house," Bennett joked, a cheeky smile on my face. Whereas the rest of my siblings either rolled their eyes or chuckled a bit nervously, Luan actually laughed out loud.
"That was a pretty good one Bennett," Luan laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Aw, you're making me blush," Bennett waved off.
"Oh, are you guys, like, moving in?" Leni asked excitedly.
"No Leni," Brad chuckled, "We're not moving in. No offense, but your house looks barely large for you guys. Although," he put a hand to the wall and smiled at Leni, "I wouldn't exactly mind that." Leni seemed confused for a few moments before her eyes widened and her face turned red. I didn't get it.
"Better be careful with that dude," Luna warned, "Especially around our parents."
"And our grandparents," Brady added. Brad rolled his eyes and waved them both off.
"Whatever."
"Are things ready over here?" Bruce asked us, "I'm starving! Me and Barry haven't eaten anything since breakfast to prepare to eat."
"It's actually "Barry and I", Bruce," Lisa stated.
"Whatever," Bruce waved off, both looking and sounding like Brad.
"Given the fact that mom and dad were cooking even before we left, I would assume that they're at least close to finishing the food," Lori answered.
Both Benson twins groaned loudly. "I told you we should have snuck some food earlier when we had the chance," Barry said to his twin brother.
"Oh please, I saved our lives," Bruce shot back, "You know how mama gets when someone steals from the food she makes before it's ready."
"Isn't the whole "saving our lives" thing kind of…an overreaction?" Lana asked.
"Truce me…he's not," Bryce said, "You don't even want to know what happened the last time someone tries to steal some of mama's food before it was done," just then, all of the Benson siblings shuddered. Even little Bradley.
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(3rd Person P.O.V)
Victor suddenly shuddered. This didn't go unnoticed by Rebecca, who put a hand on her husband's shoulder, "You okay babe?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Victor waved off, "Just…remembered an unpleasant memory."
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(Lena's P.O.V)
"So what did you guys do today?" I asked them, trying to get the conversation from their odd responses from before.
"Nothing too much," Brandon answered, "Just hung around the house. It was kind of a lazy day for us."
"Well…lazy implies not really wanting to do anything or exert much energy," Brady said, "The house was still filled with running around, fights, and yelling."
"We understand that," Lincoln said, to which the rest of us nodded in agreement.
"Kids!" We heard mom call from the kitchen, "Come on, the food is ready!" I saw just about everyone's face light up.
"Don't none of y'all run in this house!" Mrs. Benson called almost immediately after, seemingly able to read most of our minds. We all headed into the kitchen, more then ready to eat.
Just then, I felt someone knock into me and finding myself tripping over my own feet and falling to the ground. Again. For the third time today. Wow, quite the accomplishment, I thought (sarcastically) to myself.
Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my waist. I stopped falling and found myself being stood up straight. Turning around, I saw Ben standing there behind me. He flashed me a bright smile, "We're guests in your house. Can't just let one of my hosts fall on their face, now could I?"
My cheeks burned red, "T-Thanks Ben."
"No problem. Now come on, let's go get some food."
"Yeah." He ran off to the kitchen, and I followed.
Let me tell you something…the food was AMAZING! Dad is a pretty good cook on his own, but the Bensons' skills added to that…stuff of the gods.
In retrospect, our parents and their grandparents may not have fully thought through the idea of all of us being in the same house together for a prolonged period of time. You'd think after eating a large Thanksgiving meal (including a LOT of turkey) would have made us tired and less…"enthusiastic".
Nope. That thought process would be completely wrong. We were less loud and chaotic then usual, but that doesn't mean that we were silent either. Oh well, doesn't matter very much. Not to be rude or anything, but…it was just really fun with the Bensons are over. When it's just my siblings and I, and we're actually trying to have fun with it's each other…it is pretty fun. And the Bensons only amplified that.
Overall, it was a pretty cool Thanksgiving.
(Author's Note: Annnnnnnnd scene!
(1): That's honestly how I feel sometimes when one of my nephews (the one that lives with me) is playing with his friends. They just piss me off sometimes. Especially when they leave their junk lying around and leave before picking it up.
Kind of like the previous chapter, I'm not feeling very confident about this chapter. Hopefully it came out alright. Feel free to request any ideas that you have.
Constructive critism only, no flames please.
Review, favorite, follow, and I'll see you guys next time:)
