Disclaimer:All of the characters are the property of Dick Wolf. I thank him, the writers, the directors and all the great actors who brought them "to life" for our benefit. Any "liberties" I have taken with them stems from my fond admiration (and a few personal quirks I will seek "help" for).
AN: This story is not set within the accepted "canon" for the characters as it is only officially portrayed by the TV series. So I get to "fool around" with them in ways in which they've never been seen, stretching those limits and suspending the "reality" that is "fiction" to start with…now there's a contradiction in terms!!!
(And yeah Goren I know the proper word for that is oxymoron…oh for goodness sake…give me the gun…it will be New Year before you manage to hit one of those turkeys)
THE PILGRIM FATHER
Bobby Goren shoved the heavy tray containing the Thanksgiving meat into the stove and shut the door. It was still dark outside but if that was going to be cooked right through it needed to be started early.
He was still unsure if his experiment with goose, quail and pheasant was going to work but he was weary of the same thing each year. "Quapheasoose" didn't roll off the tongue quite so easily as "turducken" when it came to pronunciation, but hopefully it would when eaten.
Bobby went into the dining room knowing it too early to set the table but thinking he might do a little more of his model of "The Mayflower". He'd been bought the kit when he was about ten years old and still hadn't managed to complete it.
He only got it out each Thanksgiving and somehow other things, like more pumpkin pie or the football game, seemed to get in the way. Last year he only glued about two deck planks into place before he became distracted.
There was also a certain irony when you knew half the people who sailed on her were dead inside the first six months. But then it was probably rather short sighted to set out to found a new colony with a ship loaded down with shoemakers, printers, schoolteachers and shopkeepers. And barely a one knew how to build, fish or farm.
Bobby looked at the instructions for the rear deck and remembered what diverted his attention from "The Mayflower" last year. From a second helping of pumpkin pie, the dishes and the football game. He got up, walked along the hall and peeked into the second door on the left.
His son fast coming up thirteen weeks old was sleeping peacefully in his crib. Much more fun to create than a dumb old model ship and what he was "giving thanks" for this year. "The Mayflower" could wait a few more years. Until he was old enough for them to finish it together.
Now fatherhood really was a voyage of discovery into an unknown, strange, sometimes scary but wonderful "New World".
AN: Sniffs and dries eyes…
AN: For those not familiar…"turducken" is something some people in the US cook at Thanksgiving. You stuff a chicken inside a duck which you then insert into a turkey…however…you need to set it off to cook around Halloween…unless you have a lot of guests…in which case I used to start mine on Labor Day!