"Think we should turn up the heat?" Wolf asked.

"Wolf, it's still gotta half-hour to go," Snake responded. "It'll be fine."

"But look at the skin. Look at it. It's nowhere near as golden as the final result. How often did the tutorial say to baste it?"

"Wolf, for the last time, the turkey's fine."

"Okay, what about the potatoes?"

"Mashed."

"The rolls?"

"Toasted."

"Vegetables?"

"buttered."

"Cranberry sauce?"

Snake paused. He then reached his tail out and coiled it around the can of cranberry sauce. He sunk his teeth into the top of the can before ripping it off and dumping the contents onto a plate, jiggling on impact. "Done. Now just relax, Buddy. You've been chasing your tail all afternoon making dinner. I don't know what's gotten into you."

"I know, it's just that this is our first Thanksgiving dinner, that's all."

"So what exactly were our past Thanksgiving dinners?"

"You can't really call our quick turkey sandwich meals before we went out to rob stores before Black Friday a Thanksgiving dinner. This is our first real dinner with the turkey and the side dishes and table cloth and the whole nine yards, like something out of an old painting."

"Okay, okay, I get the picture, Pal, but if you're going for a classic Thanksgiving look, then you better wear a dress when you serve the turkey."

Wolf gave him a bothered smirk. "Fine, but I doubt anything from Shark's collection will fit me, let alone, be my color."

All while Wolf and Snake discussed the approaching feast, a heist took place behind their backs. The thief tiptoed into the kitchen area of the group's hideout and gently opened the drawers to create a makeshift staircase to the counter holding the prepared side dishes. However, right as he reached into the basket of dinner rolls, Wolf took notice.

"Piranha, put it back."

Piranha sighed and did as he was told. "Aw, come on, Chico. You can't expect me to wait. I'm starving"

"I'd expect nothing less from a day that ends in Y," Snake remarked.

"Piranha, I poured out a whole bowl of chips in the living room for snaking," Wolf added.

"I know, but Shark and Webs won't share with me after movie night last week."

"We lose more bowls that way," Snake quietly groaned.

"That and I don't give a Guinea pig's butt about American football." Piranha started reaching his hand back into the basket of rolls. "So, I'll just help himself to a roll or two until you finish—"

Wolf turned his muzzle towards the television. "Oh look, commercials."

"Oo!" Piranha instantly jumped off the counter and dashed onto the couch, much to Shark and Webs' dismay.

"Dude, warn us next time you do that," Shark said.

"Yeah, you almost squished me, you stupid sardine!" Webs shouted.

Piranha jerked his head to Webs "What did you call me? Did you just call me a sardine?"

"Hey, if the fins fit!" Webs passively remarked while watching the commercials and grabbing a relatively large chip out of the bowl.

Piranha then snatched Webs and looked her in the eyes. "Nobody calls me a sardine, chica!"

"Oh, but I just did. What are you going to do about it?"

"This."

"Piranha, no!" Shark exclaimed, knowing exactly what his friend had in mind.

In a flash, Webs found a new home in Piranha's mouth.

Shark then grabbed Piranha by the shoulders and began shaking him back and forth, repeating, "Spit her out!"

Wolf and Snake merely stared at the situation. "Well, that snack will tide Piranha over until dinner," Wolf said as if what just transpired was a perfect resolution to the issue.

The two then focused their attention on viewing the nearly cooked turkey through the oven window. They both inhaled the savory scent emitting from the oven before letting out a hungry sigh, at ease after all the stress of dinner preparations.

"Think we should baste it again?"

"Wolf, it's fine!"

Wolf sincerely smirked at his best friend's remark. "Okay, okay, I get the message. Maybe I'll go pick out that dress you so dearly want me to wear."

"Yeah, you do that." Snake continued staring at the turkey.

On his way to Shark dresser, Wolf's eyes widen at the happenings on the couch.

"Let me out, Chico!" Piranha yelled from inside Shark's stomach.

"Nuh-uh, man, not until you spit out Webs," Sharked stubbornly responded.

Piranha scoffed, "Fine."

A "pew" could be heard from inside Shark.

"Gah! Piranha, when was the last time you brushed your teeth?" Webs asked.

"I dunno, sometime in October."

"Of what year?"

Shark then spewed both of them out of his mouth, covered in his saliva.

Wolf stared at them in disbelief when he felt something pushing up against his shin. He looked down and picked up the orange cat he rescued from the tree. "Arsene, I can't believe I've reached a point where a squabble like this is considered a normal Thanksgiving."

Wolf then abandoned the dress in favor of grabbing towels.

Soon, the time came to pull the turkey out of the oven and place it in the center of the table's dinner spread. The guys took one side of the table while Webs merely sat on it next to Wolf. The five of them stared longingly at the food they stacked onto their plates, fork and knife in hand, but before they could devour their feast, Wolf tapped his fork against his golden chalice. "Okay, okay, before we dig in, we can't forget our Thanksgiving tradition. I want each of us to mention something we're thankful for."

The rest of the table groaned.

"Aw, come on, Wolf," Shark whined, "just let us eat already. We're starving."

"Yeah, this is always so boring," Webs included.

"That's only because all we could think of was 'I'm thankful for people who forget to lock their front doors,'" Wolf stated. "Now, that we're good guys, I think we can be a bit more creative with what we have to say. Okay, Shark, you complained first. You're up."

With all eyes on Shark, Shark froze. "Um, well, I guess I'm grateful for how people have warmed up to us since we've got out of jail. I mean, I doubt I'd be asked to play a mall Santa a year ago."

"Good choice, Shark." Wolf gave a finger gun towards Webs. "Whaddya got, Webs?"

"Probably that coding job Diane found for me. It kinda feels nice to see people other than you guys appreciate my skills."

"Snake, Buddy?"

Snake paused and then sighed, "I've lived a long life. I've been stabbed in the back a hundred times and will probably be stabbed in the back a hundred more times before I die. I've never been able to trust anyone, except you four. Thanks for being only people I know I can rely on in this hellish world of mine."

The four sported humble smiles and red cheeks. Shark even dabbed his eyes with his napkin.

"Got anything you're thankful for, Piranha?" Wolf asked him.

"Who me?" he responded.

"No, the other piranha. Of course you."

"Oh," Piranha scratched the back of his head, "It might sound too similar to Snake, but I jus' wanna thank you guys for letting me be apart of this team. You're like a second family to me. My first family always made me feel like a burden, but you guys are different. You treat me as an equal. You never once saw me as lesser than you guys. I love that."

The others didn't know how to respond to his confession. They exchanged nervous glances.

"Well, yeah, of course, Buddy. We always respect you a lot," Wolf said under a nervous chuckle. "Right, guy?"

The other three gave awkward nods in agreement.

"That leaves just Wolf," Snake noted. "What are you thankful for?"

"Oh, that's easy," Wolf replied, "my best friend."

Snake's eyes widened up at that response. "Really?"

"Yeah, he's always there for me. You know, he comforts me when I'm sad. He always sees the best in me and helps to bring that out. Plus, I love the way he curls his tail around my leg."

Snake couldn't help but smile at his best friend's supposed kind words about him."Aww, Wolf, you didn't—"

Suddenly, Wolf's ears perked up and the fur on his face began to tingle. "In fact, he's curling my leg right now."

Snake's smile disappeared. He wasn't curling his leg. What was he talking about?

Wolf then bent down and reemerged with his cat. "This little fella right here."

Snake's jaw dropped. "What? That cat?"

"Of course, I was talking about Arsene. Who did you think I was talking about?"

Snake's mouth went dry. The whole table now gave him weird looks. He looked around for a way to change the subject. He then grabbed his fork with his tail and stabbed it into a piece of turkey. "Who else is hungry?"

Considering his audience had plates full of food, his distraction worked like a charm.

After dinner, the five, stuffed from their feast, all passed out on the couch together. That night, Wolf began to gain consciousness and quickly remembered something. "Oh fudge. What time is it?"

Wolf leaped off the couch and clapped. "Okay, everyone up, we forgot about our secret Santa."

The other four slowly came to life, stretching and rubbing their eyes.

"We're still doing that?" Shark asked him.

"Sure, we are. We're just not stealing our presents this time."

Arsene walked up to Wolf with a beanie filled with five folded pieces of paper.

"Thanks, Buddy," Wolf said to Arsene before grabbing the beanie and patting his head "Okay, I think we'll start with Piranha."

Wolf reached the beanie out towards him to pull out a piece of paper. When Piranha unfolded his piece, his face lit up. "Aw, sweet, I'm getting a gift for—"

"Put it back."

Piranha pouted as he put his initial paper back into the beanie and grabbed a new paper to unfold.

Wolf then reached out the beanie towards Webs. "You're up."

Webs pulled out a piece of paper almost as big as her and unfolded it.

"Shark?" Wolf said as he held out the beanie for Shark to remove a piece. "That leaves you, Snake."

Snake's tail dived in and grabbed his piece.

"Okay, and I'll take the last one. Good luck." After saying this, Wolf threw aside the beanie and reclaimed his spot on the couch.

All five were silent as they attempted get back to their rest, but all of them now had a tremendous challenge placed on them. Piranha got Webs. Luckily for him, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that she would likely want some sort of technology for Christmas. Webs pulled Shark's name from the beanie, and she had a feeling that a clothing item would make his Christmas. Shark knew shopping would be a cinch when he pulled Wolf's name. Arsene has quickly become Wolf's pride and joy ever since they got out of prison, so a cat accessory would make both of them happy. Snake got stuck with Piranha and began deciding between exercise equipment or a gift card to a restaurant he likes. Lastly, Wolf got Snake. Considering that he's known Snake almost his entire life, shopping for him shouldn't be too much trouble.

With their minds focused on potential presents for their friends, the group soon fell asleep. Thanksgiving had come to a close, and the Christmas season had truly begun. What this band of retired criminals didn't realize is that gift exchanges would be the least of their worries this holiday season.