AN: Nope, no ownership yet… deal with it

Thanksgiving with Family

Raven looked in the vanity mirror in what was now being referred to as her room. She wanted to look nice. It was Thanksgiving and Paul would be joining the Roth family for dessert. She was in a cute little blue dress that kept her covered, but didn't look matronly. It actually looked very Raven.

There came a knock at her door and she jumped. "Come in," she said, quickly standing up from her seat.

Her grandmother poked her head in and smiled. "He's here," she said. "And you look lovely, so come downstairs."

"Okay," said Raven with a small smile.

She walked down the stairs and saw Paul talking to her grandfather, smiling and chuckling to something that had been said. He was holding something in his hands that resembled a pie.

"Oh, Raven, there you are," said Peter upon seeing her.

Paul turned, saw her, and smiled. "Hi Raven," he said kindly. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving to you, too," said Raven upon reaching the bottom of the stairs and walking over to the group. "What do you have there?"

"Oh, uh, this," said Paul, smiling shyly. "Mom made one too many pies, so I brought one over. It's blueberry."

"Why thank you," said Mary, taking it from him. "Dear, why don't you come help me in the kitchen?" Peter nodded and the two quickly scuttled out of there. This left the two all alone.

"So, would you like to sit down?" she asked.

"Sure," said Paul, relieved she had broken the silence. The two moved over to the couch and sat down. "So, how have things been going in Jump City?"

"Good," said Raven. "Crime rate is at a record low, which means our job is easier."

"And your friends?" he asked.

"They're all doing well," said Raven. "Nothing seems to change with those four."

"Yeah, sometimes people reach their limit of growth," said Paul, smiling.

Raven smiled back and looked into his eyes. They were green. A familiar green. When she looked into his eyes she saw… Beast Boy. She quickly looked away and felt a little flustered.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine," she said with a reassuring smile. "So, how's your book coming along?"

"I'm done editing most of it," said Paul. "Did you really like it?"

"Oh, yes, definitely," said Raven, smiling. "It was very original, something rarely found these days."

"I did my best," said Paul, humbly.

"Trust me, I could tell," said Raven.

"And thanks for highlighting all of the mistakes you found," said Paul. "It's really helped me out."

"Well, I want you to publish it, so I'll help you as much as I can," said Raven.

Just then Mary and Peter came in with the desserts, coffee, and tea. Raven had no doubt that they had been eavesdropping. They just really wanted the two of them to hit it off.

"So, Paul, how's your family doing?" asked Mary.

"Fine," said Paul. "My sister Elisa is due to give birth any day now. It's still really weird to think of her married and about to have a kid. But, it's cool that I'm going to be an uncle."

"Oh, do you like children?" asked Peter.

"Sure," said Paul, shrugging. "I kinda had to in my family, what with five younger siblings and all."

"There are seven children in your family?" asked Raven.

"Yup," said Paul with a grin. "I'm second oldest, but the first son."

"Wow, that's a large family," said Raven. "It must have been nice to grow up around so many people."

"Nice isn't exactly the word I'd use," Paul laughed. "More like crowded without any privacy. But, I love them."

Suddenly the phone began to ring. "Now who could that be?" said Mary as she stood up to take care of the offending ringing phone in the other room. They heard her answer from the other room, then she called out, "Raven, it's for you."

"Me?" said Raven, standing up and going over to the phone. She took it from her grandmother who didn't have a pleasant look on her face. After Raven got the phone her grandmother went back into the parlor. "Hello?"

"Hey Raven," said Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy? Why are you calling?" she asked.

"I just wanted to say happy Thanksgiving," said Beast Boy. "This is the sixth year in a row I've had to miss you at Thanksgiving. Are you having a good time? Are you making all of your own decisions?"

"I'm having a fine time and yes I am," Raven sighed. "How was your Thanksgiving?"

"Eh, same old same old," said Beast Boy. "I almost tricked Cy into eating my tofurkey, but at the last second Starfire gave it away."

Raven chuckled a little bit. "You're still trying to get him to taste it?" she asked. "When will you learn?"

"Hopefully never," Beast Boy laughed. "His reaction every year is priceless. Oh, and Silkie ate all of our desserts. So, we've got nothing for later. You guys are probably having dessert right now, right?"

"Yes, we're four hours ahead of you," said Raven. "And that's too bad about your desserts. Can't you just go pick something up?"

"Every place is closed," said Beast Boy. "Could you bring back a slice of something for me?"

"Sure," said Raven, smiling. "Well, listen, I've got to go. Paul's here and everyone's waiting for me."

"Paul's there!" said Beast Boy.

"Yes, he came for dessert," said Raven. "Anyway, I'll see you in two days, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, see you later Raven," said Beast Boy, sounding a little down.

"Bye Beast Boy," said Raven, hanging up the phone. She wondered why he sounded so low all of a sudden. But she couldn't help but smile at the fact that he cared for her enough to call her today. She wondered if he missed her at all? She quickly pushed this question out of her mind and went back to the parlor. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," said Paul with a grin.

"You should really tell your friend that it's rude to call in the middle of a holiday," said Peter in a scolding voice.

"He just wanted to wish us all a happy Thanksgiving," said Raven. "I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my friends in six years, so they're a little upset."

"Well, family comes first, dear," said Mary.

"I know, but they are my family," said Raven instinctively. She then realized what she had said and back tracked. "I mean, they're as close to me as family. I've known them for a little more than half a decade. They've been there for me through some of the worst moments of my life."

"And we're thankful that they were," said Peter. "But we're your real family and we've missed twenty-one years of your life. I don't think asking you to stay the holidays with us is too much to ask, is it?"

"No, of course not," said Raven, looking down.

Soon the night came to an end and Paul had to get going back to his family. Raven walked him to the door and right before he left, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. This left her slightly flustered and a vase cracked nearby. He smiled and left. Raven was glad her grandparents had been in the kitchen taking care of the dishes at the time.

That night as she went to bed she couldn't help thinking about the kiss Paul had given her. It had really caught her off guard. There was something odd about all of this. As sweet and handsome and wonderful as Paul was, she was noticing that their chemistry was much more for a friendship relationship. That's why the kiss had caught her off guard. It had been like if Robin or Cyborg had kissed her on the cheek. It just felt a little awkward and out of place.

As she climbed in under her covers her mind drifted to Beast Boy's call to her. He sounded like he missed her. She loved knowing that she was missed. And she had to remember to bring him back some dessert. He probably thought that she had made them. Ever since her successful dinner for her friends, he had been begging her to cook more. She told him that she didn't know how to cook many vegetarian meals, but he told her that he'd get her the right cookbooks.

She then realized that she missed him as well. Every night, for some reason, he would knock on her door before going to bed, to tell her goodnight. He would then talk to her until she finally had to open her door. After that he seemed relieved and would finally retire to his chambers for the night.

She wasn't sure why, but she needed to see him. She grabbed her communicator and flipped it open and dialed Beast Boy's code. She felt a little nervous, hoping that she wouldn't wake him, but then she remembered that it was four hours earlier in Jump City. The screen fizzled and then Beast Boy's face appeared.

"Raven? What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Nothing," said Raven. "I'm just going to bed and I… I wanted to talk to you. You know, like we do every night."

Beast Boy smiled and said, "Hold on a sec." She watched as the screen bounced around, obviously because he was running off somewhere. She saw the common room, then the hallway, then his room. "There we go. Now we can talk without the others getting all weird on us."

"So, did you ever find anything for dessert?" she asked.

"Well, Star attempted to make us some cookies, but you can imagine how that turned out," said Beast Boy. "So, after we cleaned up her mess, Robin made some jell-o and we're waiting for it to set."

"Did Cyborg watch the football game?" asked Raven.

"Of course, he does every year," said Beast Boy. "That's usually when I try to trick him into eating the tofurkey because he's not paying attention."

"Wow, you've really thought it out," said Raven, chuckling.

"Oh yeah," he said, proudly. "I'm gonna do it someday."

"I have no doubt," said Raven, smiling softly.

"Hey Raven?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Uh… do you really like it when we talk before I or you go to bed?" he asked.

"Of course," said Raven with a smile. "If I didn't would I have really contacted you while I'm three thousand miles away and in bed?"

"Huh, I guess not," said Beast Boy, thinking. "You know, I always have an urge to call you right before I go to bed when you're away. I never knew it was okay to do so."

"Well, now you know," said Raven.

Beast Boy smiled, but then looked a little downhearted. "So, uh, how was your visit from Paul?" he asked.

"Fine," said Raven. "He brought us a pie and we talk about his book. Nothing special."

"Nothing special?" he repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Raven, confused as to why he was asking her.

"Oh, good," said Beast Boy, sounding relieved. "I mean, uh, that's good. I'm glad he's such a good friend. Though, I still haven't met him."

"I'm sure you will someday," said Raven. She yawned and realized how exhausted she was. She had helped her grandmother cook the Thanksgiving dinner and that took a long time to make. "Well, I'm ready to go to sleep now. Thanks for talking to me for a little while."

"No problem, Raven," he said smiling. "Sweet dreams."

"Thanks, Beast Boy," she said smiling warmly. "Same to you when you go to bed. I'm sorry you can't talk to me before you go to sleep."

"Don't worry, I've done it the past couple nights," said Beast Boy. "It's been hard, but I've gotten through it. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds good," said Raven.

They said their goodbyes and Raven put her communicator away. She snuggled down into her bed and felt very content. She closed her eyes and soon drifted off into a deep, comfortable slumber.