Chapter 2

"Remember the first Thanksgiving when I tried the veggie meatloaf Grandma made for you?" DJ asked Kaitlyn while they carried dishes out to the table.

"And you liked it." She grinned. "I remember once Aunt Catherine said she and Uncle Steve would have some you were excited to have a taste."

"And I've liked it ever since. I even like the vegetarian gravy you make for it. I can't tell the difference between that and Mommy's turkey gravy."

"There's plenty as usual, so save room, okay?" the teen told him. "I made some black bean burgers this year, too and there's plenty of them too. I got the recipe from Alyssa and it's delicious. Jacob loves them."

DJ placed the bowl of glazed carrots on the table and turned to smile at Kaitlyn. "That sounds great. There's so much food, maybe Jacob will split one with me."

Kaitlyn placed the green bean casserole next to the carrots and chuckled when DJ called out "Hey, Jacob, wanna split a black bean burger with me?" to her brother, who was diligently helping Cody with the coolers of drinks.

When Jacob responded with, "Yeah, they're great, especially with the pico we got at Mr. Jirou's on top," she grinned at both boys and wrapped an arm over DJ's shoulders. "I can't wait to hear what you think."

"This is delicious as always," Jenna said as she spooned a second helping of stuffing onto her plate. "I feel guilty I didn't help more."

"You brought that beautiful lemon tart." Elizabeth pointed to the pastry waiting on the counter with several other desserts. "And it looks delicious."

"I kinda cheated," Jenna admitted. "It's from work. We had a huge party last night and I asked the pastry chef if he could make me an extra one. I've been so busy the last few weeks I just haven't had time to bake."

"How is Boris doing?" Elizabeth asked.

"Very frustrated about not being able to come to the office," Jenna said. "He calls me on zoom and I carry my phone all around so he can check in on things but it's not the same."

"He broke his leg in two places," Catherine said. "And according to the doctors it was a very nasty break. He needs to follow their orders and stay off his feet or he'll just delay his recovery."

"At least he knows he has someone he can trust to step in and keep things running smoothly until he gets back," Grandma Ang said with a smile.

"I'm doing my best," Jenna said. "So far so good."

"We went to visit Boris in the hospital and we signed his cast, right, DJ?" Angie said.

DJ nodded. "He just got a white one. A girl in my class got a bright pink one and Michael's uncle got a green one but Boris just wanted plain white."

Carrie chuckled. "Very on brand for Boris."

"I signed my name and I signed for Felix too," Angie said as she mixed her stuffing and potatoes together. "And Pumpkin."

"I signed for Cammie," DJ said with a smile. "Boris was really happy. He likes animals. He doesn't have any at home because he has white carpet."

"Plus he works long hours," Kaitlyn said. "So they wouldn't get enough attention."

"We have hardwood floors and Aunt Alyssa says those are easier to clean," Joan interjected. "Can we get a dog?"

"We'll talk about that later," Mary said.

Aunt Deb gave Joan a knowing look at the happy young girl pumped her fist. She leaned over to Angie and DJ and said happily, "She didn't say no."

"Hey," Danny called out over the table with a quick wink at Grace. "Who made the manicotti? It's fantastic."

Angie, Joan, and DJ all beamed at each other, their smiles bright enough to light the room.

"We did, we did!" Angie exclaimed, waving her hand as if she were in class. "Me and Joanie and DJ!"

"Well, I'd say that's as good as Nonna's," Danny said. "And I have a lifetime of Nonna's cooking to compare to so I know what I'm talking about."

The kids gasped with delight, exchanging excited looks.

Steve leaned over toward his partner. "Don't let Nonna hear you compared her manicotti to store-bought."

"It's all in the gravy, my friend," Danny replied, "and I know Nonna's gravy when I taste it."

"Speaking of Nonna," Catherine said, glancing at her watch, "it's almost time to Skype with her and the rest of the New Jersey family."

As Elizabeth directed the clearing up of dinner plates, Catherine set up her tablet to connect to the TV, so that by the time the tables were clear, they were all ready for the Skype.

"There's my beautiful famiglia!" Nonna clapped and blew kisses.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Nonna!" everyone chorused.

"Nonna, we made manicotti!" Joan called out. "Me, DJ and Angie. Daddy and Uncle Steve helped with the oven."

"We bought them at Costco but we made your gravy," DJ told the smiling great grandma. "And put them together real carefully. Everybody said it was good."

"Very very good, right Mommy?" Angie swiveled to ask Catherine.

"Very very good." Catherine kissed her cheek.

"You made my gravy, mio bambinas? I'm so happy and very proud of you," Nonna told the excited kids. "And I know Grace made my knots and Catherine, you made my eggplant. I couldn't be happier." She waved in the family members she was surrounded by and a dozen faces filled the screen.

While Danny's parents, siblings, niece and nephew chatted happily with the Hawaii family, he beamed from his place next to Grace. "Hey, before we go any farther, Angela, I need you to do my share of the dishes…" he teased.

"Only if you do the pots and pans there," his sister teased right back. "The job you stuck me with at ten because I was the youngest…"

As the playful banter went back and forth and everyone joined in, Nonna caught Grandma Ang's eyes, mouthed, 'La famiglia' and across the miles the two grandmas shared a blissful smile.

"That's a pretty fancy USC duffel bag Casey got for you," Carrie said to DJ as they carried two pies and a tray of Biscoff desserts to the counter of the outdoor kitchen. "Are you gonna use that as your go bag?"

"No." DJ shook his head adamantly. "I'm gonna keep the go bag you and Uncle John gave me forever. Every time I look at it it reminds me of my first Thanksgiving here and how special I felt when you gave it to me."

Carrie's hand fluttered to her chest. "Well, you are very special so you deserve to feel that way."

"I was so afraid you were gonna be mad at me when I dropped your pie," DJ said. He had finally reached a place where he could look back on that moment and not relive the feelings of fear.

"Never," Carrie assured him. "Accidents happen. Besides, I think your daddy and Uncle John were secretly thrilled you ruined that pie."

"I'm not sure it was so secretly," DJ grinned.

Carrie's face lit up. "Was that sarcasm? It was!" She held up her hand for a high five. "I'm rubbing off on you."

DJ laughed.

"You dropping that pie actually led to one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions," she said. "Where you and I eat as many desserts as we can without getting sick."

"Jess made the cherry pie so we have to be sure to tell her how good it is," DJ said. "Even if it isn't 'cuz it's her first time making pie."

"Not exactly her first," Catherine said as she came up behind them. "According to Cody she's baked half a dozen or more over the last two weeks trying to make sure she gets it exactly right."

Jess, who was returning from the restroom, heard Catherine's comment. "He wasn't supposed to tell you that," she said with a slight grimace.

Catherine smiled. "He thought it was adorable."

"Sounds like you and the eggplant parm you made for Nonna," Carrie snorted.

"You always make eggplant parm when Nonna comes to visit," DJ said, slightly confused.

"The first time she visited the island I was so eager to make a good impression I made practice eggplant parms for weeks," Catherine told DJ and Jess.

Jess's expression changed to one of relief. "Really? So it isn't just me?".

"Definitely not," Catherine assured her.

"When you cook something, as long as you make it with love Nonna will love it," DJ reminded her.

"You're right." Catherine kissed his forehead. "And I'm sure Jess made the pie with love too so it will be delicious."

Carrie picked up two plates and handed one to DJ. "What do you say you and I grab a few slices of pie and some Biscoff desserts and dig in."

"I hope you're all going to be able to make it to Shop with a Cop this year," Steve said as he finished dessert and pushed his plate away.

A chorus of "Absolutely" and "Wouldn't miss it" filled the air.

"I told Duke I'm available for anything he needs," Joseph said. "The event keeps getting bigger every year."

"I love Shop with a Cop," Kaitlyn said. "It's so much fun."

"Plus it's where we met everyone for the first time." Jacob blushed slightly. "When I first met Aunt Catherine I had a crush on her. It's kind of embarrassing now."

Catherine smiled at him. "I was very flattered."

"Good thing you were only five or you might have given me some stiff competition," Steve teased.

"The first time I met Auntie Catherine I was so nervous," Grace said. "I was afraid she wouldn't like me. But she was awesome and I knew right then and there we were gonna be friends forever. And now we're family."

"The first time I met Catherine I remember thinking how lucky I was because I had clearly gotten an awesome roommate," Carrie said.

"The first time I met Catherine …" Mary's eyes sparkled with mischief as she saw Catherine's expression change to mild panic. "I can't remember exactly what we talked about. I think the topic of construction standards and thin walls came up."

Steve gulped heavily.

"Somehow I think we even got on the topic of God," Mary continued.

Carrie bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"It's all a little bit of a blur but the one thing I remember thinking is that she was a perfect match for my big brother. And I was 100% right about that. I didn't know at the time she'd become like a sister to me though. But I'm thankful she has."

"I feel exactly the same way," Catherine said with a soft smile. "And when we remodeled the upstairs we made sure the contractor made the walls thicker."

THE END

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