I walk down the stairs with Teddy on my hip. He's has his arms wrapped around my neck holding onto me.. I walk into the kitchen and see Grace and the chefs tending to the Thanksgiving feast we're about to eat.
"This all smells so good." I saw looking over the food on the counters.
"Eight hours of cooking and still had time to get myself looking fancy." She says fixing her earrings."How's my sweet grandson?" she says rubbing his little back.
"He slept the whole night. Thank you for doing the nursery for him Grace."
"Of course. Teddy should have his own room for when he comes to visit us and his siblings to come." I laugh coely as she mentions more grandchildren.
"Do you want to take Teddy for a little bit while I find Christian?"
"Of course. You go find your husband." I hand Teddy off to Grace and she immediately started her little baby babble to Teddy. I walk over to the dining area and servers are in rotation getting food to the table. In the living room, there are family and friendly guests sitting and standing around. We're all dressed in our neutral fall colors to coordinate for the annual Thanksgiving photo. I grab a glass of sparkling grape juice off the counter. I walk over out to the patio to find Christian. I walk outside to through the curtain to find Carrick. "Oh, Carrick I'm sorry. I was looking for Christian."
"No worries Ana. I was just admiring the view out here."
"It really is beautiful."
"Do you mind if I speak to for a minute?"
"Yes. Is there something wrong?"
"No. I just wanted to tell you that, as a father, you're the best thing to happen to Christian and our family. For years, we worried about Christian being happy in his life. When he brought you home for dinner, we automatically knew that it was something real. That last year and a half has been the best for all of us and I just wanted to say that you are like a daughter to us and we love and appreciate you in our family." I'm surprised to hear this. Grace is usually the emotional parent and he's more of the reserved one.
"Thank you Carrick. It's meaningful to hear that from you. I appreciate having you as a father in law."
"There you are." I turn to see Christian walk out onto the patio."What are you two talking about?"
"Just about family." Carrick says.
"Well mom is calling everyone into the house to come eat."
"Alright then." Carrick and I walk into the house with Christian. He slows down his feet to walk beside me and puts his hand on my back.
"So what were you two speaking on?"
"Him telling me how he's thankful for me saving his son."
"Well he's right." He kisses my cheek and I kiss him back on his lips. Grace gives me Teddy and I set him in his high chair to sit next to me. We sit at the table along with everyone else and the food smells delicious. The turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, yams, ham. The dessert table is off to the side and my mouth is watering. Carrick stands at the end of the table and grabs himself a glass off the table.
"Well I know I usually give the toast but I think my son should have his turn this year." Christian eyes are surprised at the gesture. He stand up with his glass in hand, fixing his burgondey tie as he clears his throat.
"So I never gave the table speech before so I'm going to wing it from here." The table laughs at his joke."This year has brought all of good but also a lot of bad, but we all came through it. We are all really thankful to be alive, for our families, and for God. So let's raise a glass and give thanks for a year of blessings and for what the new year brings."
"Cheers." We all say as we clink our glasses. He sits down and I kiss him.
"Nicely down Grey."
"Thank you Grey." He smiles at me and we all join hands as Carrick says grace.
