Ch. 15

"Mother, you can't be serious!" Burke signaled to Cristina and Asha to go to the table and start eating while he busily shuffled through the coffee table for a pen.

Cristina was concerned when she saw her husband rolling his eyes and shaking his head. She wondered what had happened to her mother-in-law. It did not sound like she was in an accident or anything remotely close to that, although Burke reacted almost like she did.

"Yes, I got it. See you then." Burke scribbled something down and hanged up, not giving Cristina a chance to say hi.

"Daddy, what's wrong? Why didn't you let Asha talk to Grandma?" Battling the spaghetti with her folk, the little girl tilted her head and made a small frown.

"Because you'll have plenty of time to talk to her tomorrow." Still shaking his head, Burke turned to Cristina, "you won't believe this. My mother suddenly decided to come over for Thanksgiving."

Her eyebrows twitching, Cristina covered her mouth to prevent the food from falling out. "That's—" What a coincidence!

"Great! Grandma has never spent Thanksgiving with us before!" Asha was thrilled and waved her folk in the air.

Burke and Cristina looked at each other with a half smile.

"Can I go and pick her up tomorrow?" The eagerness in Cristina's voice amused Burke.

"Looks like your Mommy's trying to avoid her cooking responsibilities."

"It's OK, Daddy. I'll help you in the kitchen. We'll give Grandma a surprise. We'll cook lots and lots of food!"

Patting his grinning child's head, Burke shone an equally huge grin at Cristina. It'll be the best Thanksgiving ever.

It's such a chaotic Thanksgiving. Cristina found it hard to believe so much could happen within a few days. Even though things seemed to be happening with such flawless timing, the cynic in her was not convinced they would come to a perfect ending.

"Cristina, your food's getting cold." Burke tried to pull her out of her thoughts.

"When's the flight tomorrow? Maybe I could hang out with Rose for a little before coming home for dinner?" Maybe I could take her to someone.

Burke raised his eyebrows. Cristina's being suspiciously hospitable.

"What do you think?" Cristina thought he did not hear her. "I know you don't like it when she seizes control of our kitchen and orders you around like one of her restaurant boys."

Burke's eyes twinkled. The way how Cristina attended to such details was remarkable. He might have been wrong in believing she was not putting enough effort into their relationship.

"Sure. She's such a lucky woman to have you as her daughter-in-law."

Of course, Cristina was thankful for her husband's trustful nature.

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"Cristina!" Rose was thrilled that her daughter-in-law warmly returned her hug. She's come such a long way. Rose still remembered the first time they met and how Cristina was stiff as a tree when she gave her a hug.

"How are you, Rose? We're so excited to have you for Thanksgiving this year!" While the joy on her face was genuine, Cristina's voice sent another more subtle message to her in-law.

"I'm good. Happy to be in Seattle." Rose was ten times as direct as Burke and Cristina combined. "Tell me, did Preston bully you? I'll beat him up if he did."

"Oh no, Rose, he didn't." Cristina wondered what gave her in-law that impression.

"Then why that gloomy look on your face, darling?"

"Well, it's not about him…"

"Is it about you?"

"No. Well. I don't know."

"I'm not good at handling suspense, child. Tell me what's wrong."