As Santa went past Macy's heralding the start of the Christmas season, Ezra picked up the remote and turned off the TV. It had been years since he'd seen more than bits and pieces of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. In fact, the last time he could remember seeing it in full, he'd been thirteen and staying with Aunt Vera while Maude and stepfather whichever – he sometimes lost track of them – were off in Vail skiing. He couldn't help but think about the similarities between that Thanksgiving and this. Then, he'd been hampered by a broken left leg that made skiing impossible. Now, he was stuck in a hospital bed with a bullet hole in that same leg. Watching the parade was the only source of amusement he'd been able to find.

It was his fifth day in the hospital. He'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time and gotten caught in the crossfire of a DEA operation. He was sure Chris and Judge Travis had probably pulled out all the stops ripping into the DEA for not advising them of the operation that crossed paths with his undercover assignment. All he really cared about is that the clerical lapse of them not being notified had resulted in a bullet in his leg.

The bullet had entered his thigh about four inches above his knee. It had nicked his femoral artery causing him to almost bleed out. Despite the EMTs' quick work in the field, he'd gone into hypovolemic shock due to blood loss. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, he'd gone into cardiac arrest.

After flirting with consciousness for 36 hours after emergency surgery, he'd been greeted by the faces of his six worried teammates. It had taken them retelling what had happened several times before he'd realized just how close a brush he'd had with death.

Although he still felt extremely fatigued from the blood loss, today was the first day that he felt truly awake without dozing off every couple of hours. He let out a little sigh, careful not to aggravate the bruising on his sternum from the chest compressions that had been done when he'd gone into cardiac arrest. They were the ever-present reminder of just how close he'd come.

He supposed that today, more than any other day, he should be grateful for the skill and luck that kept him alive – and he was. He was also feeling more than a little sorry for himself that he was stuck in the hospital on Thanksgiving. He and the other men of Team Seven had planned to spend it together just as they had last year. Initially, he'd planned to spend the day with Maude her husband Michael in Seattle but case had prevented him from traveling.

Thinking back to last year's Thanksgiving dinner, he let out a little chuckle remembering how frazzled Chris had become at the different names they'd all had for the same thing and his eventual declaration of generic and humorous names. He'd been looking forward to partaking in Nathan's "soggy bread with celery" – the name Chris has given to dressing (or stuffing depending on you where you hailed from). They'd all been surprised by Josiah's baking prowess. For the last few weeks, Ezra had been looking for to Josiah's "nut pie", yet another of Chris's generic names, this time for pecan pie. Instead of those delicacies, he could only look forward to what passed for food at the hospital.

Again, he let out another careful sigh. The thing he'd miss most was the warmth and camaraderie of his friends. They couldn't be expected to give up their holiday, though, and he hoped they'd enjoy themselves at dinner as much as they had last year. Well, maybe without the disagreements over whether it was coke, tonic, pop, or soda.

Letting out another little sigh, he settled back against the pillow and pulled the blanket up a little higher. He may have been able to stay awake for a longer period than he had the past couple of days, but his body was screaming at him that it was time for a nap. Maybe he'd be lucky enough to sleep through whatever the hospital was going to pass off as Thanksgiving dinner.

M7 M7 M7 M7 M7 M7 M7

"Buck, the elevator's here. Stop flirting and get in it," Chris ordered as the doors opened. He shook his head slightly as Buck broke off his conversation with the passing hospital volunteer and piled into the elevator with the others. "So, we've got everything, right?" he asked the other four as the elevator doors closed. Each of the five men were burdened with various bags and boxes.

JD looked into the bags he carried. "I've got enough mashed potatoes and vegetables to open a farm stand. You've got the turkey, right?"

Chris hefted the box he was carrying. "All twenty-five pounds of it."

"And this is all cleared with the doctors and nurses, right?" Nathan questioned as he shifted the bags of soft drinks he carried.

"All cleared. They even moved him into a private room last night so we won't disturb anyone. Let's just hope he's awake," Chris said. He and four of the other members of Team Seven were on their way to Ezra's room with a surprise Thanksgiving dinner for him. The only missing member, Josiah, would be coming along a little later with one more surprise for dinner.

The elevator reached the floor Ezra's room was located on and the doors opened. The five men piled out shushing each to keep it down. When they got to the nurse's station, Chris paused at the desk there. "Hi, Libby. Is it ok if we go on in."?

Libby looked up from the chart she'd been writing in and took in the five men in front of her. "Sure thing. He was sleeping a little while ago, so we were able to sneak in a couple of extra bed tables for you to spread out on. She took in the number of bags and boxes they had. "I hope there's enough room. It looks like you're feeding the whole floor."

"We made sure there's enough for you and the rest of the nursing staff to have some. Wait'll you try Nathan's soggy bread and celery. It's outta this world?" JD told her.

"Soggy bread?" Libby asked with a laugh. "Do I even want to know?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Probably better not to." He gestured with the box he was carrying. "Once we get this set up, we'll send some out to you."

"We really appreciate that."

Chris started to lead the way to Ezra's room when he stopped and turned back. "How's he been today?"

"More alert than the past couple of days. He's had some pain, but he hasn't complained too much. Mostly, he's just seemed down." Libby frowned and shrugged slightly. "That's not unexpected given the day. I think you guys are just what he needs."

Chris nodded shortly in acknowledgment. He wished Libby a Happy Thanksgiving then led the others to Ezra's room. As they approached the door, they all fell silent and let Chris take the lead. "He's sleeping," he whispered. "Let's try to keep it down."

Somehow, the five men managed to unpack the entire Thanksgiving dinner and set it up on the bed tables that had been left without waking Ezra up. It was a testament to how fatigued he still was from blood loss.

"Now what?" Vin whispered once everything was out.

Chris shrugged at a loss. He thought that the smells of the food would wake the sleeping man, but Ezra was still sound asleep. Before he could say anything, his phone started to ring jerking Ezra awake. He quickly fumbled it from his pocket and stepped out of the room leaving the others to greet the waking Ezra.

As Chris left the room, Vin moved closer to the bed. He lay a gentle hand on Ezra's forearm to calm him. "Didn't mean to wake ya. It's just us."

Ezra blinked up at Vin for a few seconds as he tried to get his bearings. "Vin?" he questioned, then looked around the room taking in the others. "What are you gentlemen doing here?" He fumbled with the bed controls so he could sit up more. "You should be at dinner."

"We are," Vin replied simply.

Again, Ezra blinked at the other man for a few seconds feeling just a bit slow. "Unless you're a mirage, Mr. Tanner, I'd have to say you're in my hospital room and not at Thanksgiving dinner."

"Well, that would be true, Ez, if dinner were somewhere else." Vin gestured to the food-laden tables.

"What?" Ezra asked clearly confused.

"What he means, Hoss," Buck said as he stood on the other side of the bed, is that if you're stuck here for Thanksgiving, well we brought Thanksgiving to you."

"There's all the trimmings," JD added. "Nathan made the soggy bread and there's a nut pie from Josiah. We made sure all your favorites are here."

Ezra could only gape at the men as the enticing aromas of the food now reached him. Nathan leaned around Buck to gently tap Ezra's chin to close his mouth. "You're gonna catch flies that way."

"That was Josiah," Chris said coming back into the room. "He's downstairs and should be here in a couple of minutes with the package," he told the other men then turned to Ezra and smiled. "I never thought I'd see the day that Ezra Standish was speechless."

"I just...all of you...what...why...you're giving up your holiday for me?"

"Who said we're giving up anything? We just relocated dinner, that's all," Chris pointed out. "Of course, we're having to make do without the sweet potato casserole. You're going to owe us that when you get out of here." He looked over to the other men. "Josiah said to start dishing it all up and not wait around."

"Dark or white," Nathan asked Ezra as he grabbed a plate and started filling it with food.

"Dark," Ezra absently answered as he watched his friends start filling their own dishes. "Thank you," he said meaningfully.

Nathan waved off the thanks. "It's not like you can get out of bed and get it yourself."

"No. I mean, thank you. All of you. You don't know what this means to me."

JD took the now filled plate from Nathan, put it on the table by the bed then pushed it over the bed so Ezra could reach it. "C'mon. No one should be alone for Thanksgiving. Besides, remember all the fun we had last year." There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he pointed at the plate. "You need more stuffing than that?"

"Dressing," Ezra off-handedly corrected only to be met with a chorus of "soggy bread with celery," from the rest of the men. "Right," he laughed. "Soggy bread."

As the men were laughing, the door to the room opened and Josiah stepped in. "Glad to see you looking so good, Ezra. I've got one more surprise for you." He stepped aside and allowed the woman standing behind him to enter. Although she barely reached five feet and her stylishly cut grey hair and the wrinkles on her face gave away her age, she had an aura of a force to be reckoned with.

Once again, Ezra gaped in disbelief upon seeing the woman. "Auntie?" he whispered. "Aunt Vera?"

Aunt Vera quickly came over and enfolded her nephew in a hug before stepping back. She cradled his face in her hands and she critically looked him over. "Look at you, you little monkey."

"What...what are you doing here?" Ezra asked in clear confusion.

"What am I doing here? I find out my favorite nephew has been shot and is going to be in the hospital on Thanksgiving and you're asking me what I'm doing here? Where else do you expect me to be?"

"But how did you know? Did Mother call you?"

"No, Maude didn't call." She turned to smile thanks at Vin who had moved a chair by the bed for her. Once she was settled, she reached to grasp Ezra's hand. "I called your office to find out you mother's new address for my Christmas card list and one of these nice young men answered the call." She looked over at the others then pointed to JD. "I take it your JD Dunne."

"Yes, ma'am," JD said clearly surprised that she'd picked him out.

"I thought so. You're just like Ezra described." She turned back to Ezra. "Young JD informed me of what happened to you. Anyway, one thing led to another and with the kind assistance of your friends here, I arranged to come out and to spend Thanksgiving with you. I can tell you the whole long tale later, but right now we should eat before all this lovely food gets cold."

"I can't believe it," Ezra said softly. Seeing Buck come over with a plate of food for his aunt, he moved his on the table so there'd be room. "I really can't believe it."

"Well, you just believe it." She caught sight of Vin starting to dig into his plate of food and pointedly cleared her throat. "It's Thanksgiving, young man. You're not going to eat before we say grace, now are you, Vin?"

Vin quickly dropped the fork to his plate. A slight blush came to his cheeks. "Um...no, ma'am...but how do you know?"

"I told you," Aunt Vera said with a smile, "Ezra did a wonderful job of describing all of you boys." One by one, she pointed to the others identifying them, "Buck Wilmington, Nathan Jackson, Chris Larabee, and Josiah Sanchez." She turned back to Ezra and took his hand again. "You should know my nephew speaks highly of all of you...and I'm incredibly happy to know he's got such loyal friends. But there's one thing. The next one of you who calls me ma'am will be assigned a 500-word essay on a topic of my choice. You can call me Vera or if you think that's too familiar, Aunt Vera will do."

"I wouldn't cross her," Ezra advised. "She's serious about the essays." He looked fondly at his aunt. "You can't take the English teacher out of her."

"You should know," Aunt Vera answered back.

"I take it you've written more than your share," Chris joked.

"Mr. Larabee, you can credit Aunt Vera with my skills at writing. My reports wouldn't be what they are if it weren't for her."

Chris opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by Buck who held up his plate of food. "Maybe we can save comparing writing notes until after we've eaten."

"Buck's right," Ezra agreed. "You gentlemen have done a wonderful job getting this together, it would be a shame not to eat while it's at its best." He caught the eye of his aunt. "But first, perhaps Josiah can say grace."

As Josiah offered up a prayer of thankfulness for friendship and family and for the dinner they were about to eat, the others all bowed their heads. Once a chorus of "amens" rang out, they all quickly tucked into their dinner.

For a while, there was only the sound of everyone eating. "I must compliment you boys," Aunt Vera said. "You've done an outstanding job with everything. Who made the stuffing? It's absolutely delicious," as she raised a forkful of it to her mouth. The chorus of groans and laughter her question brought wasn't what she expected. "I'm sorry. Did I miss something."

"No," Ezra said with a chuckle. "You can thank Nathan for the dressing. I believe he told us last year it's his grandmother's recipe."

"Soggy bread with celery, Ez," Vin corrected. "Remember what happened last year."

Now Aunt Vera was truly confused. She looked from man to man as they all started to chuckle again. "Ok. There's obviously a joke here that I'm not understanding." She pinned her nephew with a gaze. "Out with it, you little monkey, or I'll tell you friends what your nickname was when you were a child."

"They know all about Bean, Auntie," Ezra said as he still chuckled. "You would have had to have been at Thanksgiving dinner last year to understand. It seems we all have different names for the same thing."

"Ah," Aunt Vera broke into say. "The old is it stuffing or is it dressing?"

"Precisely...among other things. It positively drove Mr. Larabee crazy and he decided we needed more...generic...names for the food items. Dressing," he cast a quick look at his aunt and then JD, "or stuffing has been renamed soggy bread with celery."

At the explanation, Aunt Vera began to laugh. Her green eyes, so like Ezra's, twinkled merrily. "I can't tell you how many times I've had the dressing/stuffing argument with Ezra. I still remember when Matthew and Maude visited the Thanksgiving he was three. He stood there stamping his foot repeating 'dressing' over and over. Maude looked like she was waiting for the floor to open and swallow her up and Matty couldn't stop laughing." She looked back over to Ezra. "You could be quite insistent and single-minded when you wanted to be."

"Still can," Chris agreed. "Once he gets something in his mind, he's like a dog with a bone."

"I just like to get my point across."

"Ezra," Chris said amiably. "Don't make me shoot you."

Aunt Vera looked horrified for just a second at the threat. Ezra leaned toward his aunt and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial level. "He's got this vein right about here." He pointed to just above his own right eyebrow. "Sometimes it starts throbbing. I keep telling him it's not healthy." He flicked his eyes toward Chris then back to his aunt. "If you look, it's starting to throb now."

Ezra, dear, you know I love you like you were my son, but for your own good, I really don't think you should bait your boss. You might not like the outcome."

"I'd listen to her," Chris said with a feral smile.

"Perhaps it would be best if we all took part in this splendid repast."

"I always knew you were a smart boy," Aunt Vera said as she patted Ezra's hand.

For the next little while, the only discussion was to compliment the food and talk about inconsequential things. Every now and then, Ezra would stop eating and just sit back basking in the familial feel. True, it was a hospital room, and he was confined to bed with an IV still running into the back of one hand, but he could feel that he was growing stronger and he was with the important people in his life with one notable exception. It was Aunt Vera who eventually brought up Maude's absence.

"I'd really hoped your mother would have taken the time to be here with you."

"She was," JD quickly pointed out. "But she left yesterday."

Ezra could see his aunt's irritation at what JD had said and tried to head it off. "There's a very good reason why Mother isn't here."

"There is no good reason why a mother isn't with her only son on Thanksgiving...when he's in the hospital, no less. I keep hoping your mother will change but she never does."

All conversation in the room immediately stopped. Wisely, none of the others chose to say anything leaving it up to Ezra to soothe his aunt. "I told Mother to leave yesterday. She and Michael flew to Seattle to spend Thanksgiving with his daughter as they'd planned."

Instead of soothing Aunt Vera, she only grew more irritated. "So, she can't be here with you but she can be with her husband's family instead. It really is very typical."

"Aunt Vera," Ezra said somewhat sharply to get her attention. "Cathy, Michael's daughter, just had a baby last month. It's Michael's first grandchild. I insisted they go there. If it weren't for this," he continued as he gestured to his leg, "and the case we were working on, I would have accompanied them." He grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Don't be angry with Mother. I had to argue with her to get her to go. She wanted to stay here."

"He's telling the truth," Josiah corroborated. "She and Michael both wanted to be here."

"Ezra practically threatened to have security throw them out," Vin added on.

Aunt Vera looked between Ezra and his friends. "I'm sorry. I guess I got so used to your mother jetting off without giving much thought for how you might have felt. I just assumed..."

"It's ok," Ezra soothed. "It does take some getting used to, trust me."

"I worry about you. I always will. So, you're ok with mother's new husband."

Ezra nodded. "I am. Michael Halden's a good man. He's the kind of man mother needs. He knows exactly what she was up to. He can read Mother like no one else can and he's done something none of my other stepfathers was ever able to do. He won her heart, and he makes her happy."

"Good. Your mother and I may have had our differences where you were concerned but she deserves to be happy. After Matty...after your father passed, I wasn't sure your mother would ever find happiness again. Now, about this baby thing...how'd she take to being a grandmother?" Aunt Vera couldn't hide the mischievous grin on her face.

Ezra let out a laugh at the question. "She was proudly showing us pictures of little Eva before she left yesterday and then Buck called her Grandma. The look on her face was priceless as she insisted that she was not old enough to be a Grandma and they'd just have to find another name for the baby to call her."

"I'll bet that just took the wind out of hers sails."

Conversation once more resumed and Ezra's six friends were able to pry stories out of Aunt Vera about Ezra's childhood. Where he normally would have been uncomfortable sharing these bits of his past, today he seemed to relish it and added his own embellishments to the stores.

Time seemed to slip by and before long Ezra tried to cover a yawn. It had been several hours since his friends had arrived with dinner and he was starting to grow tired. It hadn't escaped the notice of his aunt or his friends that he'd been participating in the laughter and conversation less and less. They all exchanged looks but none of them wanted to be the one to break up the gathering.

It was Chris who finally spoke up when he had to rescue the cup of water Ezra held from spilling all over him and the bed as he started to drift off. "I think it's time for us to go and let you rest."

"No. I'm fine," Ezra protested. "I was just resting my eyes. I'm enjoying listening to all you."

"That might be the case," Nathan said as he stepped in. "If you really want to get out of here in a couple of days like the doctor was saying, you need to get your rest."

"We'll be back tomorrow," Vin added on.

Ezra finally nodded slightly. "Very well. I suppose I am getting a bit weary." He watched as his friend started to clean up the remaining desserts. Earlier, they'd brought the remaining turkey and the sides out for the nurses to share and now planned to do the same with the desserts.

"You want us to leave you anything?" Vin asked.

"No. I'm quite full."

Within 10 minutes, all the desserts had been moved to the nurses' station and the room had been returned to the way it had been before the gathering and it was time for goodbyes.

JD and Buck were the first to leave. JD was going to be going over to Casey's and Buck had a rendezvous set up with one of his lady friends. Nathan was on his way to Rain's parents since he'd made a promise to her to join her for dessert. Shortly after they left, Chris said his goodbyes. Mary Travis had invited him to join her and her son Billy at Judge Travis's for dessert as well. Soon, the only ones left were Vin, Josiah, and Aunt Vera.

"When are you flying back home," Ezra asked his aunt. "Will you be able to come by tomorrow?"

"For a little while. I'm flying back on Sunday morning. Classes start back up on Monday morning." She brushed her hand across his cheek and smiled down at him. "I'm so happy to be able to be here with you."

Ezra grasped her hand and kissed her palm. "You're the best part of this Thanksgiving." He tried to hold back a yawn but was unsuccessful.

"You need to rest." Aunt Vera got up from where she was sitting on the side of the bed and reached down to snap the rail in place."

"I'll get that, ma'am," Vin said as he also reached for it. "Um...Aunt Vera," he quickly corrected.

"I'll forgive you this time, Vin," Aunt Vera said with a smile then looked between him and Josiah. "Would one of you fine gentlemen be able to drive me back to my hotel."

"It would be my pleasure," Josiah quickly said. "I'll go pull my car up to the door while you're saying your goodbyes. Ezra, I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm going to head out, too, Ez. I'm going to help get a tree for the rec center tomorrow afternoon, but I'll be up after that. It was pleasure to meet you, ma...Aunt Vera." Vin quickly caught himself from making the mistake again. When he was enfolded in a hug from Aunt Vera, he blushed slightly."

"It was pleasure to meet you as well, Vin. I look forward to seeing you and the other boys again...preferably not in a hospital room."

"From you lips to God's ears," Josiah agreed. With another call of goodbye, he and Vin left the room.

Once they were alone, Aunt Vera started to tweak the blankets over Ezra making sure he was covered. She also made sure the bed table was pulled within reach and that the cup was filled with fresh, cold water. "I expect you to do everything the doctors and nurses tell you to do," she admonished him."

"I promise, Auntie." Ezra caught hold of her hand again. "Thank you for being here. Today didn't turn out at all like I expected."

"For the better, I hope."

"The best," he assured his aunt. "It was the best."

"Good." Aunt Vera gave one more twitch to the blankets then bent over to kiss her nephew on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow, you little monkey. Sleep well, and pleasant dreams."

"You, too."

Aunt Vera gathered up her coat and purse and headed out of the room. She stopped at the door to blow a kiss at Ezra which he promptly "caught" and pressed to his heart. It was a game they'd played for as long as he could remember.

He wasn't alone long before he started to drift off to sleep and he thought of how the day had gone. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told his aunt that the day had turned out for the best. It didn't matter that he was in the hospital with a bullet hole in his leg. He'd gotten to spend the day with family. That, more than anything else, was something to give thanks for. He wouldn't soon forget it. It was with a contented smile on his face that he drifted off to sleep knowing it had been the happiest of Thanksgivings.