I honestly pictured them having all the Thanksgivings at the Boarding House from then on. With lots of fun family times! Also I didn't think too hard on the kids ages just accept it for what it is. Haha

"Thinking"

Talking

TEN YEARS LATER...

"I'll get it! I'll get it!" the thundering of little feet pounded down the hallway of the Boarding House as they rushed to the door.

Slinging the door open, the little blonde child was met with the smiling faces of his adoptive Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Gerald. Two girls around the same age hovering behind their parents.

"Hey, there's my little man, Jacob!" Gerald said ruffling his hair as he walked inside the house.

"Helga, Arnold we're here!" Phoebe felt the need to announce.

"Mom and Dad are in the kitchen." Jacob giggled, "Come on guys let's go upstairs!"

Their two girls ducked around their parents' slower steps before the gaggle of them ran upstairs.

Gerald and Phoebe walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. Helga and Arnold still working on some of the food. A bright grin on their faces.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Shortaki!" Phoebe said with a playful giggle.

"Ten years now and ya'll still can't get over our merged names." Helga said ruffling Phoebe's hair with a narrow look to match.

"Hey! So glad you could make it!" Arnold practically beamed, still covered in flour and splotches of mashed potatoes.

"Were ya'll fighting again? You know we're supposed to eat the potatoes right?" Gerald said with a smirk.

"I'm actually the one who did that." A proud voice cut through, a little girl around nine years old turned on her stool, "Mommy and Daddy wouldn't stop touching each other, so I had to make them stop."

The parents in question looked away from their daughter with embarrassed expressions.

Helga muttered, "Its almost like she doesn't know how they all got here."

"Helga!" Arnold scolded with a disbelieving smirk on his face.

Helga ignored him in favor of waving her spoon at her child, "It was barely anything you precocious little snot."

The girl stuck her tongue out in reply.

"That's enough you two." Arnold shook his head, "Angela, would you go upstairs and get the others down for dinner? I think we're just about done here."

Angela hopped down from the stool and ran towards the stairwell with her brown pigtails flapping against her shoulders.

"And speaking of getting here," Helga said walking towards Phoebe again, "When's junior due?"

Phoebe held her abdomen with another pleased giggle, "It's supposed to be Christmas, but if he's anything like his daddy, he'll be late too."

"Late two times in a week and suddenly I'm late all the time." Gerald shook his head giving his wife a pointed smirk.

She shied from his gaze blushing like mad.

He took a look around, before glancing at the hosts, "So are your parents coming this year?"

"Yeah, Mom and Bob are outside right now. Olga and her husband Crusoe or whatever are still on that year long mission for the Penguin-Reindeer Alliance." Helga swung her spoon in a circle with a laugh, "But this year is the year!"

"Mom and Dad are running a little late this year. Last minute Christmas shopping or something." Arnold offered adding another plate to the table.

"Yeah, it's a shame your parents couldn't make it." Phoebe said towards Gerald with a sigh.

"Well, you know Mom— last minute discount cruises and all that."

The group laughed a little. The newcomers grabbing some of the dishes to finish placing on the table. After a few more minutes, the table was set and the conversation finished. The doorbell rang and a sudden thundering of children could be heard coming down the stairs. The door swinging open in a flustered rush.

"GRANDMA! GRANDPA!" the shouts of the children echoing in the hallway.

"Yes yes! We made it." Miles said with a chuckle.

Stella close behind him as they weaved a path around their children. Phoebe's parents close on their heels. The children all bouncing around their respective grandparents as they made their way towards the kitchen.

Finally Bob and Miriam came in from outside, pleased with their handiwork of decorating and setting up the games.

"Alright, let's eat! I'm starving here." Bob announced as he made his way to the table.

"Dad! Geeze, can you at least act like other people are here?" Helga said, her voice snarky but expression playful.

"Fine, fine, let's eat. Everyone, please." he rolled his eyes, warranting his daughter a grin.

"And before you ask, Gerald's parents are on a cruise and he's not part of a broken home."

"Every year the same joke! Yeesh!"

The room shared a laugh before sitting at the table. The group engaging in fun conversations about everything that was going on in their lives.

Of course, now that they were adults, they often had the privilege of hosting Thanksgiving at the Boarding House. They always enjoyed being able to have their parents and children co-mingle and make new family traditions.

The Thanksgivings had been much quieter the years that followed that big shindig at the Boarding House all those years ago, but had been just as memorable. In fact, most of the the Thanksgivings that followed were rich with good and fun memories.

A fond somber memory that lingered at the back of Arnold's mind this time of year. The last Thanksgiving he shared with his grandparents. That year really stuck with him and he felt like he was lost his parents all over again.

He couldn't deny how much they had raised him. He missed them greatly and kept their picture on the hallway table in the center of the other pictures of the family from years past. The pair of them grinning like fools. Gertie dressed in something crazy as usual while Phil laughed at her antics.

After dinner the group filed outside to engage in all kinds of games. The men getting into competitions as usual while the ladies laughed at their juvenile behavior. The children running around in a pack playing here and there never staying anywhere for too long. Their mothers ready to correct them as needed.

Later that night, after everyone had gone home, and the children were all fast asleep upstairs. Arnold put a hand on the picture of his grandparents.

A sigh in his voice as he chuckled, "No raspberries this year, Grandpa. No Peter Pan either, Grandma."

"Maybe next year." Helga said softly as she walked to hug him from behind.

He shook his head, "Yeah, I'm sure the kids would like your crocodile impression."

She snorted, "Tick-tock buster, we better get upstairs if we want to have enough time to—ya know?"

His eyes lit up as he remembered that it was indeed that time of night to end the festivities in their usual way.

Helga shut the door to their room. He stood so closely in front of her barely letting her leave the door alcove. She gave him a playful push at his passionate stance.

"And now to end Thanksgiving in the traditional Shortaki way." Arnold said wiggling his brows at her.

"Isn't that how we ended up with Jacob?" She chuckled as she started leading him towards the bed.

"It's fine with me if we end up with another good kid like that." his gaze narrowed, "As long as he doesn't turn into a pig—"

"Criminy! All these years and you still haven't forgotten that!?" she started tugging his clothing off. The pieces falling to the floor in a heap.

He snorted, pushing her clothes down while his fingers lingered against her warm skin, "It's still my favorite memory from that Thanksgiving."

"Well, I can't imagine why— with all the choices between parental drama, a pregnancy reveal where the mother was the last to know- and the Boarding House almost burning down." her voice dripping with sarcasm as she pressed kisses to his neck.

"It was a tough call." he smarted, his gaze lusty, "However, I will say the sounds you made that year were a close second."

"Oh Arnold," her voice velvety, as she sat down on the bed, "Get over here and maybe I'll make those sounds again."

Arnold purred as he joined her. Enjoying the fact that as an adult, he really did get to make love to her 'til morning.

None of his Thanksgivings may have been as wholesome as that daydream he had all those years ago, but he wouldn't trade a single Thanksgiving for it.

The gathering of friends and family for good or bad, fun or somber—

All that was important to him now was that they spent that time together as a whole family and cherished the memories they made.