"Daddy! Daddy, do you see the M&M guys?" his daughter asks, turning to him excitedly, pointing to the character balloon on the tv screen in front of them.

Doug looks up from his coffee, not quite awake. "I see, baby." his unoccupied hand rubs the restless form of his oldest daughter resting on his lap. Tess had caught the flu that was going around and the girl was miserable.

Kate continues watching the parade, calling out the different characters she sees, more excited about the annual event than she has been in previous years.

"Mommy! Look!" Kate hollers again

"I see," Carol says, coming back into the room with her second cup of coffee. She hands the other mug in her hands to her mother, who sits in an armchair with Addison in her lap. Helen takes the mug and silently thanks her daughter, still making faces at Addy and replying to her babble. "Use your inside voice, remember, Kate? Tess-Bear doesn't feel good, so we have to be quiet."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Sorry," Kate whispers.

"It's okay," Carol smiles.

The family watches the parade, giving their opinions and commentaries on the floats and balloons that go by.

"Buka, did you see? It was Abby Cadabby! She's a fairy who's friends with Elmo," Kate asks her grandma. The appearance of the pink fairy even gets a smile out of Tess, who hasn't paid much attention to the show in front of her.

"I did see, little on," Helen replies, looking around one granddaughter to see another. "She is very pretty."

During the next commercial, Doug manages to wriggle himself out from under Tess and heads into the kitchen to pop in their traditional birthday/thanksgiving breakfast. Twenty minutes later, he returns with a plate of steaming cinnamon rolls. He sets it, along with a stack of napkins on the coffee and settles back on the couch, helping his sick daughter fix herself on his lap again.

Kate is quick to dig in, getting icing all over her face and fingers. The food is one of her favorites and she relishes the times they have it. "Addy can have one too!" she declares, setting one of the rolls in front of her sister.

Addison, who is standing at the coffee table playing with a toy, drops it and looks at the food. She sticks a finger into the icing for a taste, and when she decides it's good, takes the whole thing into her tiny hands and brings it to her face.

Knowing there is a huge mess waiting to happen, Carol jumps up and takes the cinnamon roll from addy and rips it in half, handing one piece back to the one-year-old and putting the other back onto the table. Off her older daughter's wail that her mom messed it up, Carol explains. "She's still too little to eat a whole one like that, Bean. She needs help."

"And she's makin' a huge mess," Kate says, giggling at her messy sister.

"Yeah, she is," Carol laughs, watching her daughter eat the new food. "You know I think this might be her first cinnamon roll," Carol remarks, thinking back to whether or not Addy has tried the pastry before, but not coming up with a memory of it."What do you think, Bug? You like it?" Carol takes Addison's smile as a yes.

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"Alright, go sit down, Mommy's gonna bring you a plate," Doug orders, carving knife in hand.

Kate and Addy scamper off to climb into their seats, with sick little Tess trailing behind. She claimed to feel good enough to try eating some food, but by the way she's acting, her parent's don't think she's up for it.

"Buka? What are you thankful for?" Kate asks her grandmother once everyone is served and seated at the table.

"I'm thankful that everyone I love is happy and healthy and that I got to come out here to see you," Helen answers, smiling at the child.

"Mommy? What are you thankful for?"

"I think I'm thankful for you and your sisters who make me smile every day and your Daddy who's had to put up with me for all these years," she winks at him, chuckling when he presses a rough kiss to her cheek. "And I'm thankful that next year I get to start a new job. I'm excited about the challenge of doing something different. What about you, Bean? What are you thankful for?"

"Hmm," Kate starts, looking up as if to think for a second. "I'm thankful for you and Daddy and Tess and Addy and Buka and all my friends and all my toys."

"That's really sweet," Doug starts. "Well, I'm thankful for all you girls and a job I'm happy with and am good at and the wonderful life we have here. And you, Buggy? What are you thankful for?" He asks, turning to the baby seated in a high chair next to him.

"Ba ba ba," Addison babbles. "Mama. Dadda. Ba."

"She said she's thankful for her family and her toys," Kate translates, watching her twin slide down from her chair and returns to the couch, having spent her stored energy on just two bites of food. She goes back to eating, listening as the adults start their own conversation.

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Helen once again spoiled all three of her grandkids with all sorts of toys and books and clothes. And having missed Addison's first birthday, she presents her with her own special music box that played 'Fur Elise'. Addy was fascinated by it and spent nearly an hour listening to it and whining for it to be played again when the music stopped.

When bedtime rolls around, none of the girls put up a fight like they usually do.

"Happy birthday, Katie," Doug says, tucking his daughter in. "I love you. Sleep tight."

"I love you too, Daddy," the girl says, hugging him once more before snuggling deeper into her covers.

He flips off the light, leaving the nightlight plugged into the wall on and cuts through the girls' shared bathroom into Tess' purple-walled bedroom. The girl is laying on her back, mouth open as she snores quietly.

"Goodnight, baby Bear," Doug whispers, rubbing her hair back. "Happy birthday."