AN: Hi everyone. I have been having a real horrible bout of writers block. So I worked on Passing and Pinning. I made myself sit down and just write this weekend. This is the third version of this chapter. I am still not completely happy with it but what can you do. Please read review and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I will give the characters back but it might be a long, long time.
Chapter 42
The next few weeks were hard, but slowly I started to feel like myself again. As my bruises faded so did my anxiety. It helped that I had such a supportive group of friends and family. Hadley was the biggest help. She did not treat me like I was made of glass and liable to break at any moment. She had convinced Gran that what was best for me to be treated normally not to coddle me. By the time that Thanksgiving break came round I was not having as many nightmares and sleeping through the night. Jack had pleaded guilty so there was no trial which I was thankful for. I was not sure how I would have gotten through one without losing it.
The night before Thanksgiving Gran had Hadley and I working away in the kitchen on the feast we would eating the next day. As was tradition we would be having all of the boys over for lunch. It all started when Eric and his father had moved to town. Gran insisted on having them over for their first American Thanksgiving. The guys would hang out all afternoon watching and playing football. This year Amelia, her dad and Holly and her mom were coming as well as Crystal. The triplets and their parents would around in the afternoon and stay for dinner. I had invited Godric and had received one in return to have dinner with his family. We would have lunch and spend the afternoon at the house and then head for his house at five. I was working on mixing pie dough when the phone rang. "Sookie go answer that for me." Gran instructed from her place at the stove.
"Hello, Stackhouse residence." I answered.
"Sookie dear how are you doing?" Mrs. Fortenberry asked.
"I am doin' good today. What can I do for you?" I replied.
"Tell your Gran that I am sending a couple a dozen biscuits with Hoyt tomorrow along with the preserves I promised her. I know that Hoyt is looking forward to watching the game with the boys. It is so nice of y'all to have him." She said.
"I will and we will be happy to have him. Have a good day tomorrow." I promised.
"You too, Bye now." She responded before hanging up. I placed the phone back on the receiver and went back to my crust, cutting in the lard.
"Who was that Sookie?" Gran asked pouring her boiling cranberries into a bowl.
"Mrs. Fortenberry said that she is sending biscuits and preserves with Hoyt tomorrow." I relayed as I spooned in a tablespoon of ice water into my mixture.
"Oh I bet she is. Maxine has been trying to butter me up for my years to get my noodle recipe." Gran shook her head placing the cranberries into the fridge. Gran's noodle recipe was one of her well kept secrets. This would be the first year that I would be in the kitchen while she made them.
"Well it is one of the best things you make Gran." I commented. We continued to do all of the prep work till about ten thirty. At that point Gran sent us to bed so we could get up at four to start on the turkey, noodles and dressing. We would be having two turkeys, one that was roasted and stuffed with dressing and one that would be deep fried. We were also making two kinds of dressing one with cornbread and sausage the other with apples and onions. As well as a huge variety of vegetables and of course Gran's noodles. I was in charge of making the pies. I made five and would be making an additional one in the morning. I made an apple, a pumpkin, sweat potato and two pecan pies. I was going to take one with to Godric's house. I would be making the lemon meringue in the morning.
When I went up to bed I found Hunter curled up in my bed holding a teddy bear of mine. He had adamantly told me when they had arrived that afternoon that he was going to share my room with me cause my bed was better than Jason's. I found a pair of pjs and took a shower. When I came back I climbed in and went to sleep. My alarm went off way to soon. I shut it off and went down to start our cooking marathon. The main thing that I learned from watching Gran make her noodles was that when you rolled them out they needed to be so thin that you could read a love letter through them. Gran had Jason and Eric extend the dining table and move the one from the kitchen into the living room. With the extra sections in we had more than enough room. By eleven thirty we were done and had the tables set. The guys had taken up residence in the living room to watch the game. Hunter was so excited to be having a big Thanksgiving with family. He worked all morning on making hand turkeys to hang around the dining room. He even used some of my charcoal and made a few in black and white. He all but pounced on Godric when he saw him dragging him to play with trucks. At a quarter till I asked Hunter to tell everyone that lunch was ready. He proudly marched right in front of the TV and proclaimed that lunch was served. The little ham even bowed.
"As many of you know we have a tradition in our family that before we eat our Thanksgiving meal we take turns to share what we are thankful for. This year I am thankful that my granddaughter Hadley has come home and for her bringing my great grandbaby Hunter to meet his family." Gran started us off.
"I am thankful that Adele has welcomed my son and I into her family. We feel truly blessed." Mr. Northman continued. It went on like that for several minutes.
When it was Hunter's turn he leaned over and whispered "What does tankful mean?" It was a profound subject for a four year old.
"What makes you happy?" I asked him. He thought for a minute and then said the cutest, funniest thing I had heard in a while.
"Cheese and puppies cause it tastes good and puppies are fun to play with and I need one." He answered in the most serious tone.
"Those are good things to be thankful for Hunter. I like cheese too." I told him before I continued. "I am thankful for a good night sleep and peace of mind." After a few more we ate. When lunch was over I was ready to let the food comma take over. The guys had made a collective decision to play some football to burn off what they ate. Hunter drug Godric off to play having claimed him as his playmate for the day. The adults all stayed in the kitchen talking. That left plenty of room in the living room to curl up and take a nap. I was not the only one to have the same idea. Amelia, Holly and I all fell asleep watching some cheesy comedy. I was roused from my doze when Claudine plopped down next to me.
"How are you feeling?" She asked curling her feet under herself.
"Tired but I'm guessing that is not what you mean. I feel fine. I sleep hard last night no nightmares." I replied sitting up and turning to face her.
"I am glad. I have been so worried about you I was afraid that you would continue to hide. We need you." She said sincerely.
"I'm not going anywhere. Well I guess I am. I will be heading over to Godric's for dinner. His mom is having this big to do. Do you want to come help me pick out what to wear?" I queried standing and stretching.
"Sure speaking of Godric how are things going with him?" She countered with a twinkle in her eye.
"We are just friends." I blushed making my way to the stairs.
"Sure you are." She jested. We looked through my closet trying to find something that was fancy but understated. Claudette, Amelia and Holly joined us a few minutes later giggling like loons.
"What's so funny?" I asked sticking my head out of the closet. Amelia was making herself comfortable at the foot of my bed.
"Hunter found Claude and drug him off to play as well. He would not take no for an answer. That boy is going to be unstoppable with his charm." Holly said lying down on my bed.
"What are you two doing up here?" Claudette asked following suit.
"Trying desperately to find her something to wear tonight." Claudine responded holding up a couple of my nice church dresses. Over the next hour we went through my entire wardrobe. Godric had told me earlier that he would be changing into dress pants, shirt and sports jacket so I knew that I needed to put some extra effort into what I would be wearing. We decided on a ruby red dress that had pleated boat neckline and flared out from the waist. The girls wanted me to curl my hair and pin it back with a pair of silver hair combs. They went to work and did my make up as well. By four thirty I was dressed and styled. I had added a pearl necklace that had been mama's and a pair of black pumps. I looked at myself in the mirror and I felt more beautiful than I had in a long time. We headed down stairs and found that the guys had taken over the living room again. They were shouting at the TV. They had been joined by Mr. Northman and Carmichael. Hunter, Claude and Godric were on the floor building a fantastic tower from his blocks. Hunter was the first to notice us shooting up from where he was on the floor knocking down his tower in the process.
"Sookie you look like a princess." He gushed hugging my legs. At his boisterous announcement all the heads in the room turned to look. There were a range of expressions from amused and appreciative to forlorn and wistful.
"Thank you Hunter." I replied bending down to return his hug.
"He is right you do look lovey Sookie." Mr. Northman said from his perch on the sofa.
"I wanted to look nice for this evening." I blushed under all of the attention. I headed into the kitchen and found Gran, Mrs. Cleary and Hadley playing cards. I retrieved the pecan pie from the fridge. "Gran, I will be leaving soon."
"Have a good time and mind your manners." She reminded me getting up to give me a hug. I nodded and packed up the pie. Godric had come into the kitchen to tell me that his older brother would be picking us up in a few minutes. He had changed and looked very debonair. We walked out the front porch to wait for Victor to arrive.
"Thank you for letting me spend the day with your family and for coming with tonight." Godric said as we swung.
"I am glad you came. I know that Hunter loved getting to spend time with you. When he found out that you were coming he said that you were more fun to play with then Jason." I smiled.
"He is a great kid. Playing with trucks and blocks honesty never gets old." He smiled back. He was about to say something else when his brother pulled up in a dark sedan and honked.