So, I hate Thanksgiving. I have a lot of issues with it that I will not go into here. That being said, I wouldn't have included the holiday in this series were it not for it being requested. So this one goes out to that anon on Tumblr for asking me to do this and to beautlilies because you love Thanksgiving and I love you 3
It was the most uncomfortable Thanksgiving Alice had experienced since the divorce. She hadn't wanted to come, begged her mother to let her celebrate the holiday with The Cullen's as she usually would have and allowing Cynthia to travel to their father's residence in Seattle alone. Alice wasn't a big fan of thanksgiving. Still, spending it with her Aunt Esme, Uncle Carlisle, and even her moody overdramatic cousin Edward would have been much preferable to being stuck with her father's side of the family all day.
The morning had been spent with Anna-Marie, her soon to be step-mother who'd made it a goal to bond with the girls. They'd baked multiple pies and prepared enough side dishes to feed a small army. It was rather bothersome how, despite tearing her family apart, the woman desperately wanted to be a part of Alice and Cynthia's lives. She'd spent quite some time that morning trying to convince the youngest Brandon to call her 'mom.' If this was a day for being thankful, Alice would count the girl's outright refusal as one of the few blessings of the day.
The woman's awkward efforts at girl talk as they paid half-attention to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade were almost tolerable compared to the silent treatment Alice had received from her Aunt and uncle. From the moment they had arrived, their father's sister and her husband had pointedly ignored Alice's presence going out of their way to shower little Cynthia with adoration while pretending Alice wasn't there.
In all honesty, as she sat pushing around the turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing on her plate, she decided that having people pretend you didn't exist was much preferable to the barrage of questions her grandparents threw her way. They wanted to know about her grades, where was she planning on going to school after graduation, did she have a boyfriend.
Alice didn't want to answer any of these inquiries. Her response about her mediocre grades in English and history earned her a look of satisfaction from where her Aunt sat across the table. She didn't have an answer to the other questions having no current plans to go to university.
The boyfriend question, in particular, gave her pause. She'd been seeing Jasper Whitlock casually since Halloween when he'd finally confessed his mutual crush. She was enjoying the relationship, letting a sweet smile slip at the thought of the boy, but they hadn't had that conversation yet. She couldn't honestly say if he was her boyfriend or not, though she was definitely open to the idea.
In response to her grandparents, she had offered a simple no. Even if she did have a legitimate answer to their question, in all reality, it was none of their business. Over the past four years, there hadn't been a single birthday card; they hadn't given Alice or Cynthia so much a birthday card. Every one of the relatives on her mother's side already knew all the answers to these questions, had her grandparents made any effort to remain in her life after the divorce, they would as well.
The barrage of questions, the silent treatment of her Aunt and uncle, Anna-Marie's ever frequent attempts to include her in conversation, and of course, the dirty looks her father kept shooting her way was almost too much to handle. She wanted to yell at her grandparents to shut up, to stand up and storm away from the table, to hop in her car and drive straight back to Forks. But as she looked to where Cynthia was sitting on her grandfather's lap sharing a piece of pumpkin pie, she knew she had to stick it out as always Alice needed to be the adult. In due time, Cynthia would learn the cruelties of the Brandon family. For now, it was best to sit back and allow her younger sibling to enjoy the innocence of her youth.
With an internal sigh and a quick glance at her watch, curious as to how much longer she would have to endure her extended family Alice turned her attention back to her grandparents. She continued to politely answer the increasingly invasive questions as she waited for the meal to end when she could go upstairs to her old room and hopefully contact some of her friends over Zoom. The thought of flirting with Jasper, explaining the complexities of contouring to Bella, or discussing baseball with Emmett was enough to keep her powering through the meal.