Although she had been friends with Nicole for months, this was the first time Monika had seen the inside of her house. All the other times she had been here, they had gone straight for the back to hang out with the chickens. Now that it was getting colder, the birds weren't spending much time outside. So when Nicole texted her that morning, excited that her parents would be gone all day, Monika hadn't been sure what they would do.
"I haven't had breakfast yet so I'm going to cook some eggs," Nicole said. "You want any?"
"I already ate, but thanks," Monika answered.
"Let me show you something interesting," Nicole said, gesturing towards the skillet sitting on the stove. "My dad buys these crappy eggs from the dollar store even though we have chickens making eggs right in the backyard. They come from these factory farms where the chickens just live in a cage laying eggs until they die and never see daylight."
"That's so sad!" Monika exclaimed. "As if I needed any more reason to be a vegetarian."
Nicole cracked the egg over the skillet. "See this pale and yellow color? That's what all these eggs look like." She reached over to a different carton of eggs. "I got this one from one of the hens yesterday."
When she cracked that one open, Monika noticed the difference immediately. This yolk was dark orange and more vibrant looking in general.
"You see it, right? This is the color you're looking for. That means the chicken has been raised in humane conditions."
"I never knew," Monika said as both eggs sizzled. "I'll have to ask Rob which eggs we get."
"They have good ones at the supermarket but you have to look for them." Nicole finished her eggs and invited Monika to sit at the dining room table.
"So the reason I wanted to talk to you today was that I found out that Perkatory is looking to hire some new baristas." She was referring to their favorite place to hang out, where the coffee was so good it was worth putting up with Rob's constant hyperbolic complaints about how expensive it was.
"I applied yesterday and they told me they would get back in touch with people after the holiday weekend. If it works out and I get the job, I might be able to get you in too."
"Really?" Come to the think of it, didn't Rob have a job interview coming soon? He had done several of them but seemed somewhat optimistic about this one, as it was similar to the part-time work he had been doing before his accident.
"Yeah! Wouldn't it be so fun to work together?"
"I just have one question," Monika said. "Do we get free coffee while we're working?"
Nicole laughed. "I think we do, within reason."
"It sounds great," Monika smiled. "I just hope my social security card comes soon."
"Huh? You don't have one?"
Whoops. Monika probably shouldn't have let that slip. She and Rob had taken all of the necessary documents to the Social Security office a few days earlier. At this point, she had to stick to the story they had come up with, even though she felt a little guilty about lying to Nicole. On the other hand, her real origins were just too strange to be explaining to people constantly, especially when they wouldn't even believe it.
"My mother didn't sign me up for it. She had a lot of conspiracy theories about the government."
"That sounds rough," Nicole replied.
"That's why I left."
"How did you end up with Rob and his family, anyhow?"
"I wanted to get as far away from Idaho as I could," Monika said. "That was half the reason why I did my exchange program in Japan, but I couldn't stay there forever. I took a chance on Rob and came here. Looking back on it, it was pretty impulsive, but it worked out."
Nicole was quiet for a few moments after that. Monika had an intuition that Nicole didn't quite buy the whole story but at the same time, she didn't have any evidence to contradict it either.
"So I wanted to ask you something else," she eventually said.
"Go ahead."
Nicole hesitated briefly. "Your friend Natsuki...is she...single?"
Monika turned to face her. "Natsuki? Yeah, but...oh."
Nicole laughed. "You don't have very good gaydar, I take it."
"I guess not."
"So I suppose you won't be able to tell me if Natsuki likes girls or not."
"It's never really come up," Monika said. "But they've all been adjusting since the...the move...and I don't think relationships are a big priority for her right now."
"That's fair," Nicole said. "She's really cute and it looks like she's sticking around?"
Monika almost gave Nicole a warning about calling Natsuki "cute" but realized this context was different from what Natsuki was used to.
Speaking of Natsuki, she was currently out with Rob getting food for Thanksgiving, which was two days from now. Monika had no clue what to expect from this holiday, as it seemed confined to America rather than something with a more global presence like Halloween or Christmas and wouldn't have been mentioned within the game. She didn't have strong feelings about it one way or the other, but once Natsuki learned that food was a major part of it she wanted to be involved in all the planning.
After a brief visit to the chickens, who didn't seem in the mood to come outside in the cold weather, Monika saw Rob's car arrive. Sure enough, Natsuki was in the front seat.
"Hi, Natsuki!" Nicole called out while waving enthusiastically.
"Hi," Natsuki replied with some unease before turning to Rob. "What's her name again?"
"Nicole," Rob answered quietly.
Monika glanced out the window at Nicole, but it didn't seem like she had picked up on that exchange as they drove off. It was a short drive through the center of town back to their house.
Natsuki straightened up in her seat, clearly excited by some idea that had popped into her head. "Hey! Are we going to serve any mead at Thanksgiving? I think that would be great!"
"I don't see how," Rob said. "Someone drank it all."
"Let's stop at the store and get some more, then!"
"Do you remember what happened when you last had it? I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"How else am I supposed to get better at it?"
"Get better?" Rob asked. "I don't think that's the kind of thing you want to necessarily be good at. But either way, we can't go to the liquor store now."
"Why not?"
"Because you're not 21. It would look skeevy as hell and if someone asked you to show ID, you wouldn't have anything."
"Why can't I go in there?" Natsuki asked, increasingly frustrated. "If I can drink it, I should be able to buy it with you."
"I'm technically breaking the law by letting you drink it at your age."
"That's stupid," Natsuki retorted with her arms crossed. "I thought this was the land of the free or something like that."
Rob sighed heavily. "I'm not touching that one. This discussion is over, young lady."
"Don't patronize me!"
"What?"
"Monika's the same age as me and you don't call her 'young lady,' I'm an adult, goddammit!"
"Okay fine," Rob said. "I won't call you that again if it upsets you so much. However, I'm not sure what you said was technically accurate. You don't age in the game, but Monika has been living here for almost a year now. She's 19 and you're still 18."
"Ooh, what an age gap," Natsuki said with plenty of sarcasm. Rob didn't have a reply; he seemed to have meant it when he said the conversation was over. A few months earlier, Monika had made a joke about how he was better equipped to deal with Natsuki because of his experience with little children, but now she was starting to realize that might actually be the truth. He never took any of her bait and while she was unlikely to show it, he had clearly earned her respect. The only time Rob had ever lost his cool with her was when she disrespected Kate on that first day. It was puzzling how someone could display so much patience with their loved ones but then start swearing and fuming over something more mundane like tripping on a toy truck. Monika supposed it had to come out sometime.
The next day was quiet. Andrew and Lucas had a half-day at school to get a head start on their Thanksgiving break. They were delighted by the extra time to drive their toy trucks and trains on every surface in the home. Rob was out at his job interview, hopefully holding back his contempt for the entire process.
Natsuki walked into the living room and sat next to Yuri on the couch. "So how come you guys never mentioned this holiday the day after Thanksgiving?"
"What holiday?" Kate asked.
"Black Friday," Natsuki answered.
"That sounds quite ominous," Yuri said.
"It's a stretch to call Black Friday a holiday," Kate explained. "It's a big business promotion. It's supposed to mark the first day of Christmas shopping, although lately a lot of stores put up their Christmas stuff right after Halloween. But on Friday, they usually have big sales to bring in the crowds."
"We should check it out!" Natsuki declared.
"Absolutely not," Kate said sternly.
"Why not?"
"The same reason I wouldn't take you for a walk in the woods during a forest fire," Kate answered. "I'm your guardian and I'm not going to put you in danger. People get shoved around and trampled every year on Black Friday."
"Oh no!" Sayori exclaimed. "Why would you trample someone just to get into a store?"
"Because everyone wants to be the first to save a few hundred dollars on a TV," Kate said. "It's not exactly a wholesome occasion."
The front door opened and Rob came in. The boys rushed over to greet him and Monika noticed he didn't look completely despondent, which was an improvement.
"How did the interview go?" she asked.
"Pretty good, actually," he said with evident surprise. "They're nice people and I had a lot of stuff to share about my other job."
Kate suddenly had a look of excitement in her eyes. "Oh, you think you'll get it?"
"I could imagine a scenario where I did," Rob said. "But I'll believe it when I see it."
Optimism always had a limit with him, but Monika was glad to see him at least somewhat encouraged. Perhaps this would be the time his luck finally changed.
Thanksgiving Day began with the kitchen being as busy as Monika had ever seen it, with Natsuki leading the effort to prepare a memorable feast. She barked at the others to get her ingredients and delegated the less complicated dishes.
"Is it always this much work?" Monika asked.
"We don't usually host," Kate said. "Usually, the guests will bring one dish or two but the people who are hosting take care of the main course. But we don't have any guests coming so it's all up to us now."
Monika was eventually assigned to the string bean casserole, which was pretty straightforward. Most of the time needed to prepare the meal was dedicated to simply giving the turkey time to cook in the oven. It was finally ready about four hours later, but that wasn't the end of the work. Now it had to be carved up so that it could be served to everyone.
"This can be pretty tricky," Rob said, holding a two-pronged fork in one hand and a large knife in the other.
"May I?" Yuri suddenly asked.
"Sure," he said with a slight smile.
Despite never having done it before, Yuri seemed to have an innate understanding of how to cut and after a while, the turkey was reduced to a small skeleton with neatly sliced piles of meat on a nearby plate. The time had come to put everything out on the table. When everything was ready, there was turkey, mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, stuffing, baked carrots, corn, rolls, gravy and cranberry sauce. There were desserts as well, but of course those would come later.
"We're supposed to eat all that?" Monika asked.
"Not necessarily," Kate said. "One of the nice things about today is that we'll have leftovers for several days."
"Don't be so sure!" Sayori said mischievously. "I'm really hungry!"
Everyone sat and began passing plates back and forth after Kate said grace. The girls looked puzzled by that but Monika had gotten used to the ritual. She wanted to try a bit of everything, but it wouldn't all fit on the plate. She would have to do it in phases. Andrew and Lucas had plates with much smaller portions and finished quickly.
"I done, Momma," Lucas said. "Can I go play?"
"Me too!" Andrew said.
"Okay," Kate said. With that, they ran off. "The meal can go on for a quite a while, but it's tough for them to sit still very long."
"This seems like a lovely tradition," Yuri said with a small smile. "Is this what your family would always do? Or was it different in the days when you didn't have six children?"
"Five children and one sister," Monika interjected without thinking.
Natsuki scoffed. "We get it, Monika. You're on a higher tier than the rest of us. You don't have to point it out all the time."
"It's not a higher tier," she sputtered. "I just meant...I..." She sighed heavily. "Sorry."
It was only after she made the comment that Monika realized she wasn't comfortable trying to explain it, certainly not in front of everyone. She didn't want to be perceived as Rob's daughter, but it wasn't because she thought it was beneath her or whatever Natsuki was implying. It was because her feelings were still just too intense, despite having accepted a non-romantic role in Rob's life. The thought of calling him "Daddy" made her feel sick. Yuri and Natsuki didn't seem to mind the idea, but she knew Sayori had complicated feelings as well. Monika glanced over at her but she clearly didn't want to get involved.
"We're grateful that all of you are part of our lives, regardless of how you imagine your role," Kate said, ever the peacemaker. "To answer the original question, we used to alternate every year. One year we would go visit my extended family and the next we would visit Rob's. We just decided that so much has happened this year that it might be easier for everyone to have dinner here rather than force you all to meet a bunch of aunts and uncles and cousins."
"If we had, whose family would we have gone to see this year?" Yuri asked.
"Mine," Rob said quietly. Monika turned her head to look at him and saw that his heart was heavy. The girls knew so little about Thanksgiving that they didn't really consider how difficult it could be to celebrate it without a family member. She reached over and took his hand in hers.
"If we had gone there, the meal would have been a bit different," he said. "Babci would always want to have some Polish stuff alongside the turkey, like kielbasa or pierogis."
"What's that?" Sayori asked. "I know kielbasa is sausage but what's a pierogi?"
"It's like a dumpling. It can have all sorts of different food used as filling, like onions or potato. Some people put sauerkraut in it, but I'm not a fan of that. One of my aunts makes them with prune, which might not sound good but it's really tasty."
"I want to try them!" Sayori said excitedly.
"They're tough to make," Kate said. "We've tried in the past and it didn't go too well."
"I accept the challenge," Natsuki said. "Just get me a recipe."
"It's funny," Rob continued. "When I was growing up, I never thought much about being Polish. It was just in the mix with the Italian and English parts of my background. But for the past few years...I've thought about it often. I don't know if it's because of what's going on in the world or if it's just because I'm getting older. I've been to England and Italy, but not Poland. I'd love to go there someday."
"We should all go!" Sayori piped up. "We'll drive from town to town trying all the pierogis! Actually, I should wait until I try them first in case I don't like them. I just like to say 'pierogi.'"
That got everyone laughing, but Monika knew that kind of thing would be difficult to manage. All the girls would need passports. After eleven months here, she still hadn't gotten to that point yet; she would be lucky if the Social Security card arrived before the end of the year. Then there was the price for all those tickets, which would amount to thousands of dollars. It might have made more sense for just Rob and Kate to go and leave the boys with four babysitters, but now didn't seem like the time to bring it up.
Yuri turned to Kate. "What's your background like?"
"I'm mostly Dutch and German," Kate answered. "So between the two of us, Andrew and Lucas have quite a pan-European background."
"I find that so interesting," Yuri said. "I wonder if we were meant to be full-blooded Japanese...or if there's room for more complexity in our family histories."
"Not Monika," Sayori said. "You came out looking different than we did."
"I know my name is Eastern European," Monika replied. "As to which specific country, I couldn't really say. It could be Poland like Rob or it could be a different one."
"Those countries have also changed borders a lot over the course of history," Rob added. "That doesn't make it any easier to clear up. For example, Babci and my grandfather both identified as Polish, but he was actually from a region that is now within Lithuania. But at the time of his birth, it was still Poland. So was he Polish or Lithuanian? It gets fuzzy."
"I guess we can't say our nationality is Video Game," Natsuki said. "Japanese it is."
After the meal, everyone felt the need to let the food settle for a while before trying to eat any dessert. About an hour later, Sayori was passed out on the couch snoring loudly. She had eaten the most out of anyone and now she was going to be the last to get dessert. Natsuki got annoyed by the noise (and was acting a bit worn out herself from all the cooking) and decided to head down into the basement to relax.
Yuri and Monika sat at the table enjoying cups of tea along with some apple crisp. There was also an apple pie and a plate full of cupcakes.
"I knew what you meant," Yuri said abruptly.
"Huh?"
"About not wanting to be Rob's daughter."
"I really wasn't trying to put anyone down," Monika said. "But I just blurted it out without thinking. I should have known Natsuki would interpret it in the worst way possible."
Yuri took another sip. "You know, I think she actually has feelings about it similar to yours, only reversed."
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since the game began, she has wished for a father figure she could trust. Her character was written with an absent mother, so other than the Literature Club, her father was all she had. I believe she did love him but she was also afraid of him. She does not need to be afraid here and she is protective of that."
"What about you, Yuri?" Monika asked. "How do you imagine your role?"
"Oh, I would be happy with either choice. I'm just grateful to have a family at all."
"Yeah," Monika replied quietly. "I am too."
There was a pleasant silence as they both sipped their teas, but it didn't last. Sayori barreled into the dining room. "Waaaaaah! You guys better not have eaten all the dessert!"
